Welsh centre-right party GWLAD has branded the raw sewage crisis an “absolute disgrace”.

As the UK faces the reality of our sewage-soiled waterways thanks to the brutally honest new series, Channel 4’s Dirty Business, Wales must face its own reality as a country hugely affected by raw sewage pollution.

In 2024, Welsh water companies discharged 886,422 hours of untreated sewage into our rivers and seas, equivalent to 101 years of continuous sewage discharge.

In the constituency of Ceredigion Penfro, there were 163,441 hours issued, with the river Teifi being one of the worst affected.

On this, GWLAD’s leader and Ceredigion Penfro candidate Gwyn Wigley Evans called for the water companies responsible to be fined: “The companies should not be allowed to pass these fines on to the consumers, the management should carry the blame and the cost, forfeiting any bonuses as these acts are deliberate.

“You don’t need a degree to work out that this is wrong.”

Dŵr Cymru (Welsh Water) said Wales receives a lot of overflow due to the high levels of rain the country experiences.

A spokesperson added that whilst the total removal of storm overflows was “unaffordable”, the company is investing £2.5bn on projects to improve the environment, including £889m on improving storm overflows.

Dŵr Cymru was last year fined for failing to properly monitor water quality, pleading guilty to over 800 offences, but had its fine reduced from £1.35m to £120,000 on appeal.

However water pollution isn’t the only pollution GWLAD is concerned about.

Evans, a Ceredigion County Councillor for Llanrhystud, said “we regard excessive paperwork as pollution, also” calling for processes to be more efficient.

There is a growing problem with fly-tipping in Wales, costing almost £2m to clean up in 2024, alone - £50,900 was spent in Ceredigion cleaning up 807 individual incidents that year.

Cllr Evans pointed to the taxpayers' money spent to address the issue, adding: “We may come to the point where it may be cheaper to take all waste free of charge and dispose of it in a safe way.

“In the meantime, the 'polluter pays' principle should be enforced, and to the full.

“Not a nominal fine but the genuine figure of returning everything to its previous condition, the cost of disposal and a very stiff fine.

“Rubbish dumpers and sewage dumpers are at the same level for me, very low life, they are ruining the present and the future.”

Fly-tipping is a criminal offence with penalties of up to £50,000 and jail time for offenders.

In February, the Welsh government provided local authorities with 150 new trail cameras in fly-tipping hotspots and announced a review into fixed penalties as part of the Welsh Labour government’s “tougher stance” on illegal dumping.

The elections to decide who will be in power in the Senedd for the next five years will take place on Thursday, 7 May.

Register to vote by 20 April to have your say - https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote