Council finds waste water pipes leaking into sea

Swansea Council has discovered a number of waste water pipes that are seeping sewage into the sea.

The South Wales Evening Post has reported that the local authority has served more than 70 notices to people for wrongly-connected sewer pipes, which means wastewater from toilets and washing machines is ending up in the River Tawe.

A spokesman from the council said this "can have a significant effect on the city part of Swansea Bay".

Hamish Osborn, from the Environment Agency Wales, stated: "Improving water quality around our coast is very important for tourism as well as for local people."

Efforts to rectify the wrongly-connected pipes are likely to be made soon as the agency revealed last month that the cleanliness of 81 water sites in Wales is to be made public.

However, Mr Osborn told the newspaper that the quality of the area's rivers has been improving for the last 20 years, as a result of investment by water companies and changes to farming.

Posted by Claire Manning