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The “last year” in the headline means 2025. According to an analysis by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) of data from Welsh water companies, as reported by BBC Wales on 8 October 2026, sewage releases into Welsh rivers, lakes and the sea added up to more than 800,000 hours in 2025, across more than 100,000 discharge events. That is lower than the more than 970,000 hours reported for 2024.
The figure is a campaign group’s aggregate, not an official Natural Resources Wales (NRW) total. This article could not check it against the underlying company returns, so read it as SAS’s calculation as reported by BBC Wales. The sections below explain what the number measures, why it is not directly comparable with some official figures, and what the regulator’s own 2024 data does and does not show.
What the headline figure measures
The 800,000-plus figure is a total of discharge hours. Each time a storm overflow or other permitted outlet releases untreated wastewater and rainwater, the length of that release is recorded, and the lengths are added together. The reporting describes the number of events as more than 100,000, which SAS characterised as roughly one discharge every five minutes.
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Where the 2025 number comes from, and what it does not cover
There are three numbers for Wales in circulation, and they are not interchangeable:
- More than 800,000 hours and more than 100,000 events in 2025 (rivers, lakes and sea, from Welsh water companies). This is the SAS analysis reported by BBC Wales.
- 777,545 hours and 94,974 discharges into Welsh rivers in 2025. A Member of the Welsh Parliament cited this figure in a plenary debate on 24 June 2026. It covers rivers only, and the speech does not identify a published dataset behind it, so it is best treated as a secondary reference.
- More than 970,000 hours in 2024, from the same SAS analysis, which is the basis for the year-on-year decline in the headline.
Because the rivers-only figure is narrower in scope, it cannot be used to check the Wales-wide total directly. Anyone quoting the 2025 total should name the source and say that it covers rivers, lakes and sea.
How storm overflows work
Many Welsh sewers combine wastewater from homes and businesses with rainwater in a single pipe. In heavy or prolonged rain, that pipe can fill beyond its capacity. Storm overflows are outlets built to release the excess to rivers or the sea, so that sewage does not back up into homes and streets. NRW’s explainer, last updated on 26 October 2023, puts it directly: storm overflows “were developed to act as overflow valves to prevent this from happening”, where “this” refers to flooding and backing up during heavy rain.
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Wales has more than 2,000 permitted storm overflows. Permits set the conditions under which each one may discharge, such as heavy rainfall, and some require screening. Event and Duration Monitors (EDMs) record how often and for how long each outlet operates. Monitors were required to be installed by March 2020.
Three distinctions matter when reading any spill figure:
- A recorded spill is not automatically a breach. A discharge that happens within the permit conditions is a permitted release. NRW says it may take enforcement action where a discharge contravenes a permit, but a monitored event on its own does not establish that one has occurred.
- Dry-weather discharges are different. Outlets can also operate in dry weather, for example after a blockage. These are not the same as rain-driven releases and are the cases most likely to need investigation.
- Monitoring does not measure environmental harm. A duration or event count says nothing by itself about the effect on a river or beach.
The official 2024 picture for Dŵr Cymru
Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is the largest operator in the country, and NRW publishes company-level figures that show how its overflows performed in 2024. These are official but measure different things from the SAS total.
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| Measure (Dŵr Cymru, 2024 unless stated) | Value | Source and scope |
|---|---|---|
| Permitted storm overflows | 2,070 | NRW, External DCWW Performance Report 2024 (published 23 October 2025) |
| Listed overflows | 2,064 (2024); 1,946 (2022) | NRW, storm overflow spill data report covering 2022–2024. The two NRW 2024 counts differ slightly, so treat either as approximate. |
| Average spills per overflow with spill data | 40.9 (2022); 55.3 (2023); 48.9 (2024) | NRW, 2025 report on 2022–2024 data |
| Average duration per monitored spill event | 7.1 hours (2022); 8.6 hours (2023); 8.2 hours (2024) | NRW, 2025 report on 2022–2024 data. This is an average per event, not a total. |
| Overflows recording more than 5,000 spill hours | 3 | NRW, External DCWW Performance Report 2024 |
| Overflows without duration data | 19 | NRW, External DCWW Performance Report 2024 |
| Sewerage-asset pollution incidents | 132 | NRW news release, 18 July 2025. A separate measure from spills. |
Two caveats apply to these figures. The 2024 return was resubmitted after NRW found discrepancies, and NRW accepted the revised version after review. NRW also reported that 279 monitors operated for less than 90% of the year, and it said data completeness and accuracy need to improve. Gaps in monitoring mean a lower total does not always reflect fewer spills.
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Why the totals move from year to year
The reporting attributes part of the 2025 decline to drier summer weather. NRW points instead to regulatory monitoring and investment measures. Both can be true at once, and the evidence available does not allow a clear split between them. Treat a single-cause explanation with caution.
Changes to permits can also distort comparisons. NRW reports that Dŵr Cymru’s listed overflows rose from 1,946 in 2022 to 2,064 in 2024, mainly because permit changes consolidated storm activities with other discharge types. A higher count of listed outlets can therefore reflect how the permits are written rather than new infrastructure. Average spill counts and durations show a similar pattern: spills per overflow peaked in 2023 at 55.3 before falling to 48.9 in 2024.
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Pollution incidents are a separate measure
NRW’s July 2025 enforcement announcement covers a different question: how often sewerage assets cause pollution, and how quickly the company reports those incidents. NRW recorded 132 sewerage-asset pollution incidents for Dŵr Cymru in 2024. The company self-reported 74% of incidents against NRW’s 80% target.
NRW’s Head of Regulation and Permitting, Nadia De Longhi, said: “We’ve seen a huge deterioration in the performance of Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water since 2020, and despite repeated warnings and interventions they’ve been unable to reverse this concerning trend.” The statement is about pollution incidents and enforcement, not about the number of storm-overflow hours, and it should be quoted with that distinction.
What to do if you see a dry-weather discharge
NRW asks the public to report a storm overflow seen operating in dry weather through its incident hotline on 0300 065 3000 or through its online reporting form. Reports of this kind are the ones most likely to lead to investigation.
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NRW also says that blockages are a major cause of spills. Wet wipes, sanitary products and cotton buds should go in the bin, not the toilet, and fats, oils and grease should not be poured down sinks.
How to cite the figures responsibly
- Name the source: “according to an analysis by Surfers Against Sewage, as reported by BBC Wales” for the 2025 total.
- State the geography: Wales-wide totals include rivers, lakes and sea; the 777,545-hour figure covers rivers only.
- Keep hours, event counts, and average spills per overflow separate. They measure different things.
- Do not present pollution incident numbers as a spill total, or treat monitored spills as proof of a permit breach.
The Bottom Line
The 2025 headline is a campaign group’s total of more than 800,000 discharge hours across more than 100,000 events, reported as a fall from more than 970,000 hours in 2024. It is a useful sign of how often Welsh storm overflows operate, but it is not an official NRW figure, and it does not on its own show whether any particular discharge was unlawful or what harm it caused.
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