This seems like one of those lightbulb jokes asking how many does it change one? Sadly. it’s not.

How many sewage discharges does it take before an emergency measure becomes business as usual?

In Wales last year, the answer was 101,176.

That is around 274 discharges every day, one every five minutes, continuing for a cumulative 822,265 hours. And that’s in a nation that markets itself for its coasts and mountains, beaches and scenery. Maybe change the slogan to “Come to Wales and wade in poop.”

Nobody should pretend every storm overflow operation is illegal. Older combined sewers carry rainwater and wastewater, and overflows exist as safety valves when heavy rainfall threatens to overwhelm them. But that explanation cannot become an excuse for accepting the unacceptable. And what’s happening now is broadly unacceptable.

At Cwrtnewydd, 363 discharges lasted a combined 4,408 hours. Llan Ffestiniog recorded 419 events. At Boncath, Llanfyrnach, Begelly and along the Teifi, the figures again run into thousands of hours.

That’s how much crap is flowing through our communities, our towns, our villages, our watercourses, our beaches.

And they follow years of warnings. Cambrian News has repeatedly reported sewage discharges and pollution alerts around Cardigan Bay and the Teifi. The Tenby Observer has documented pollution threatening some of Pembrokeshire’s best-known bathing waters.

More promises of investment and improvement are no longer enough. The public deserves measurable results: fewer spills, shorter spills, cleaner rivers, resilient infrastructure and transparent, real-time information about what is entering the water and when.

Regulators must also regulate. Where discharges comply with permits, the public deserves a convincing explanation of why such extraordinary levels of overflow activity remain permissible. Where operators breach those permits, enforcement must be swift and meaningful.

Communities have heard explanations for years; what they need now is a network capable of protecting waterways.

Our rivers and beaches are not convenient pressure-release valves for decades of inadequate infrastructure.

Wales calls its natural environment priceless. After another year of staggering sewage figures, it is time those responsible proved they believe it.

But we all know we’ll be back reporting on this next year...