Tenby: Sea swimmers warned of sewage hazard after burst pipes

Swimmers in one of Wales’ most popular seaside towns are being warned they could be swimming in contaminated water.

An investigation has been launched into a pollution incident in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said.

A burst main – a pressurized pipe that lifts sewage into public sewers – resulted in sewage entering the River Ritec, which flows into the sea at Tenby South Beach, NRW said.

He said there was a potential risk of pollution at nearby Tenby South Beach, Castle Beach, Tenby North Beach and Penally Beach.

Visiting from Stockport, Andrea and Andrew McConnell said: “We’ve seen all the children come down [to the water)] but the guards stopped them”.

“We just assumed there was a wave – it’s really alarming.”

Olivia and Laurence Wall from Nottingham added: “The worrying thing is [our daughter] wanted to go to sea, but only when the boy said we couldn’t know anything about it.

“We could have easily lost it.”

“Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water has informed us of a burst of rising current near Tenby which has resulted in sewage entering the River Ritec,” said Andrea Winterton of NRW.

She said the main line had been isolated and there should be no more pollution in the river from the blowpipe.

“Due to the potential for the pollution to affect bathing waters downstream, we have declared an abnormal situation and informed Pembrokeshire County Council who will place signs on beaches to warn people of the potential risk of pollution, ” she added.

The council said it would put up the signs on the beaches on Tuesday morning.

A Welsh Water spokesman said crews were continuing to repair a damaged sewer pipe in the ground from Clickett Lane, Tenby, which was discovered on Monday.

“While this is taking longer than we expected, the pipe was quickly isolated so there has been no further contamination,” they said, adding that it was managing flows in the area and had no impact on wastewater services in the area. of Tenby.