Julie Rees of the Carmarthen Coracle and Netsmen’s Association described the scene when members took to their boats at around 12.30am.
“The coracles were paddling through this and the stench was awful. It was right in the town centre part of the river by a public footpath as you come into town on the roundabout. The public told us later that it has been pouring in for at least seven days.”
The association shared videos and images on Facebook on Saturday 2 May 2026, showing the extent of the contamination. Members traced the source to a stretch of the river running through Carmarthen parallel to the A40, where they found fields leading to the valve coated with remnants of toilet paper and faeces, with waste pouring directly into the water.
Malcolm Rees, also of the association, described the conditions in the marshes.
“There was no solid matter in the water as it had all been spread about and retained in the marsh. The smell was putrid as you can imagine.”
Dwr Cymru Confirms Burst Rising Main at Pensarn
Dwr Cymru Welsh Water confirmed that a burst rising main at its pumping station had affected the River Towy in the Pensarn area of Carmarthen. The company said it had isolated the affected pipe and deployed tankers to manage flows while urgent repair work was carried out. Crews worked through the early hours of Sunday 3 May 2026 and the repair was completed, with the system returning to normal operation.
In a statement issued on Monday 4 May, the company said: “We received reports of a potential sewage leak at the River Towy during the weekend. Initial checks with the operator identified a fault with equipment. While repair work was carried out, waste was removed by tanker to minimise any further impact. The repair has now been completed and a return visit will be made to monitor the situation.”
Dwr Cymru apologised for the incident and said it understood the concern caused to the local community. The company confirmed that water quality testing was being carried out both upstream and downstream of the location.
Questions Over Why the Leak Was Not Detected Sooner
Malcolm Rees questioned why Dwr Cymru had not identified the fault itself, given that members of the public indicated the discharge may have been ongoing for up to a week before the coracle men discovered it.
“My hunch is that when this rising main burst it had not been tracked in their system. Dwr Cymru Welsh Water have to do a review of all their rising mains to make sure they are all tracked. It is farcical that coracle men are prohibited from catching salmon because of declining stocks and then this can happen. Had the coracles not been there this sewage would still be happening. We are custodians of the river.”
He said he would also be seeking the full results of the water quality testing carried out by the company.
Natural Resources Wales encouraged the association to report the incident via its 24-hour incident line on 0300 065 3000, and confirmed it had been notified. A member of the association said they had requested a callback from NRW to establish whether officers had visited the site to take water samples or check on wildlife.
Further Discharge Reported Near Towy Bridge in Johnstown
The Pensarn burst was not the only concern raised by the association on the night. Members who walked downriver to the Mekatek outlet near Towy Bridge, on Llansteffan Road in Johnstown, reported witnessing further pollution entering the river from that location, accompanied by a strong odour.
Mekatek Ltd, a recycling and waste processing business, holds a permit from Natural Resources Wales allowing it to discharge treated effluent into the River Towy. The association has raised concerns about this outlet on previous occasions, including in June 2024 when a video filmed at 2am appeared to show a foam substance discharging into the river at the same outfall.
At the time, the association stated on Facebook that NRW grant Mekatek a licence to discharge into the river, but that due to staffing levels NRW do not have enough officers to carry out their own checks and rely instead on the discharge being self-regulated by the company.
Natural Resources Wales responded to the June 2024 report by contacting Mekatek to request urgent investigation, CCTV footage of the outfall at the time of the incident, and emission sampling results. NRW said foam can sometimes appear in the final discharge as a result of organic matter in the effluent and aeration from oxygen bubbles, and that it would not be considered a polluting material. The association disputed that characterisation.
Following the 2 May 2026 incidents, the association added the Mekatek outlet to the list of concerns it was asking residents to report, alongside Dwr Cymru, Natural Resources Wales, the Carmarthenshire Fishermen’s Federation and Carmarthenshire County Council.
A Tradition of Over a Thousand Years Under Threat
The coracle fishing season on the River Towy traditionally runs from 1 May to late July. Just eight licences exist to fish on the Towy in Carmarthen, with around three actively used. Coracle fishing on the Towy, Teifi and Taf are the last remaining examples of the practice in Wales following the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act of 1923, which brought it to an end on most rivers.
Malcolm Rees said fish stocks had been declining for a number of reasons, with river pollution among them, and that repeated incidents were placing the tradition under serious pressure.
“Our reports are falling on deaf ears and repeated pollution is killing not only the river, but a tradition that has been here for over a thousand years.”
Dwr Cymru’s Worst Year on Record for Pollution Incidents
The Pensarn incident comes against a backdrop of sustained concern about Dwr Cymru’s performance on pollution across Wales. In April 2026 it was reported that the company had recorded its worst-ever year for serious pollution incidents in 2025, with 11 serious incidents and 111 wastewater pollution incidents in total across its network.
Data published by Natural Resources Wales in July 2025 showed Dwr Cymru was responsible for 155 pollution incidents in 2024, with 85 per cent, totalling 132 incidents, originating from sewerage assets. Carmarthenshire as a whole recorded 11,195 sewage discharges totalling 86,603 hours in 2022, the second highest total of any local authority area in England and Wales.
Carmarthenshire News Online has approached Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, Natural Resources Wales and Mekatek Ltd for further comment on the events of 2 May 2026 and the ongoing concerns about the Mekatek outfall. Pollution incidents on the River Towy can be reported to Natural Resources Wales on its 24-hour incident line: 0300 065 3000.
Carmarthenshire News Online, Independent News for Sir Gaerfyrddin | carmarthenshirenewsonline.com
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