On a windy but clear morning on Ogmore-by-Sea in the Vale of Glamorgan, a few families, dog walkers and campers make their way down to the beach. With its expansive gold sands, rock pools and views of nearby Porthcawl and Merthyr Mawr, it's easy to see why this is one of the most popular beaches in this corner of south Wales. It's breathtakingly beautiful, and yet, it is one of the two worst beaches in Wales for water quality where people are advised not to swim.
In 2023, Ogmore-by-Sea beach in St Brides Major and Watch Tower Bay over in Barry, which were both designated bathing areas, were sampled by Natural Resources Wales (NRW). They were the only two out of 109 areas in Wales that received a rating of poor after elevated levels of bacteria were found. The situation has only got worse.
In recent weeks, the water quality at Ogmore by Sea was classified as "abnormal" by NRW because of high bacterial levels. The source of this pollution has not been confirmed. Welsh Water has cast doubt on fears of a leak from the Penybont treatment works.
But there are also other potential sources of the pollution. Four of the most prolific sewage outflows in Wales, which allow everything we flush down our toilets out into the river network when it rains heavily, all ultimately flow into the River Ogmore and reach the the sea just by the beautiful beach. An outflow on the River Llynfi in Maesteg, two outflows onto the River Garw (which we wrote about here when they were the most prolific in .