Welsh Water has defended its record after it was revealed six of its rivers were among the UK's worst for sewage pollution.

Recent data measuring the hours of sewage discharge into waterways in 2021 across England and Wales showed that of the top 20 worst offenders, six were the responsibility of Welsh Water – including the Wye and the Usk.

The River Usk was 12th on the list with pollution occurring 1,758 times for 14,854 minutes whilst the River Wye was 14th with 2,202 incidents lasting 13,359 minutes overall.

The report sparked fierce criticism including from Powys TV naturalist Iolo Williams who said on social media: “Six of the 20 most polluted rivers in England & Wales. Great record @DwrCymru. For profit, not for Wales.”

A spokesperson for Welsh Water defended the record and claimed it was partially down to the weather: "Welsh Water has monitors on 99 per cent of our storm overflows – more than any other water company – and given Wales also receives more rainfall than England, this results in these storm overflows operating more often.

“It is therefore unsurprising that we currently record larger numbers of spills than others.  And to be very clear, this does not mean that stormwater spills from our assets always have a detrimental effect on water quality – independently verified reports recently published show that we contribute 23 per cent of phosphates in the Wye with storm overflows responsible for 2 per cent. 

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“The remainder is made up from other sources such as urban run off, rural land use and private septic tanks.  For the Usk, the equivalent figures are 21 per cent and 1 per cent.

They went on to say Welsh Water would be investing over £900 million to protect the environment between 2020 and 2025 and defended the company’s record compared to its English counterparts.   

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“With 44 per cent of Welsh rivers achieving good ecological status, compared to 16 per cent in England, we are playing our part by investing to prevent any water body in Wales failing good ecological status by 2030 as a result of our wastewater treatment works," the company added.

“We are also continuing to assess the environmental impact of storm overflows, undertaking more research than other water companies, so that we can, in conjunction with our environmental regulators, understand the range of factors impacting on river water quality and this includes agreeing a programme of work to improve any storm overflows that may be having an impact.”