Cardiff-based local NGOs are upset over the amount of sanitary waste being dumped at the bank of the River Taff.
Nearly 1500 sewage dumping incidents in the Taff have been recorded in 2021 by the ‘Top of the Poops’ website.
But, the incidents have been down by 655 as compared to previous record. The website analyses sewage dumping incidents by water companies in the UK.
Local NGOs like Cardiff Rivers Union and Rebel Mams have been working to clean the river’s bank for nearly six years. The residents of Hailey Park and Llandaff North have seen the river from close quarters. They have expressed their concern over the worsening state of the river.
Becca Allsopp, a volunteer from Rebel Mams, said, “More education is needed from our wash water company so that people put the right things down their toilets. So, if we have events where sewage leaks into the rivers, we’re not finding things like sanitary towels and wet wipes, things that shouldn’t go into sewers, on our river banks.
“But I also think that the water company can do more to prevent the sewage from leaking into the rivers in the first. Apart from the sanitary waste, the plastic water bottles are a problem.”
Nick Kane, a volunteer from Cardiff Rivers Group, says “We need to do something at government level, too. Stop people thinking that it’s a throwaway society, so plastic and stuff like that. We need to make, make it much harder for people to just dump rubbish, whether it’s out of a car or on when you’re out walking in the countryside or in the city.”