River pollution: Rescuer infected with sewage-linked parasite

Lifeboat instructor David Deveney says it "turns your stomach" to think about ingesting human waste

A lifeboat volunteer said he spent days in hospital after contracting a parasitic infection linked to sewage after a river training exercise.

David Deveney suffered giardiasis after spending two hours in the River Severn and said an investigation found an 80% chance it came from human sewage.

Sewage was spilt into Welsh rivers more than 95,000 times and for more than 791,000 hours last year, figures show.

The illness has not been categorically linked to sewage or spills in Wales.

Both the River Severn and River Wye, which end in the Severn Estuary, run through Wales and England.

Welsh Water, which provides water and wastewater services to most households in Wales, said the spills had "a limited impact" on Welsh rivers.

Mr Deveney, a lifeboat training manager with the Severn Area Rescue Association in Beachley, at the mouth of the Wye in Gloucestershire, became unwell after teaching volunteers how to enter and exit the water in October 2020.

The training involved being submerged.

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Giardiasis is an illness caused by the giardia parasite and can be caused by drinking water that's not been treated to kill germs, according to the NHS.

He said getting a parasite during the exercise "was the last thing on his mind".

But that evening, after the training exercise, he said he sat up in bed with "projectile" vomiting and severe diarrhoea.

That went on for three days.

Because he had not eaten in any restaurants or drunk non-treated water in the 48 hours before getting sick, his GP concluded he had probably ingested live parasites during his two hours in the water.

'Physical hell'

Mr Deveney say the illness left him out of pocket after being off work for three-and-a-half weeks

Mr Deveney spent three days in the gastrointestinal ward at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, recovered enough to go home for about a week but was then back in the Grange Hospital in Cwmbran for five days.

The HGV recovery technician spent a total of three-and-a-half weeks off work with the illness, something he said he would not wish on "his worst enemy".

"I've been through physical hell with the after-effects of the contaminated water," he said.

Wild swimming warning

Giardiasis is a notifiable illness, meaning it had to be reported to Public Health Wales (PHW) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW), as well as the authorities in England.

"They said it was an 80% chance of human slurry or human waste," he said.

"It turns your stomach when you think about it… you've ingested that through no fault of your own when you thought you were just messing around in a normal river."

PHW said it could not comment on specific cases.

Mr Deveney says when they conduct rescues, lifeboat crews are forced to expose themselves to contamination

"I think it would be very difficult to pinpoint it to one organization, maybe one farm or one sewage outfall, but it made me think about my water intake," he said.

"It won't stop me volunteering as a lifeboat helmsman or as an instructor, but we now try and carry more antibacterial wipes or trying not to have the head submerged in the water as often as we did before."

Wild swimming advice from NRW says "bacteria, viruses, and toxic algae may be present in some water" and to avoid water that "looks or smells bad".

While the source of the parasite that caused Mr Deveney's illness will never be known for certain, he said he was told by investigators that heavy rains and high tides at the time meant the River Wye was the most likely source.

What do the figures tell us?

There were more than 95,000 reported spills of sewage into Welsh rivers in 2021, lasting for more than 791,000 hours

The latest figures from Welsh Water indicate more than 94,000 reported spills of sewage into Welsh rivers in 2021, with the discharges lasting for more than 785,000 hours.

The figures come from monitors on more than 2,000 water treatment works and sewer overflows across the Welsh Water network.

St Nicholas at Goodwick in Pembrokeshire had the most spills at 366, which lasted a total of 6,662 hours.

In the Wye and its tributaries, there were 1,678 reported spills for a total duration of 10,315 hours.

Welsh Water has been releasing data on spills - called combined sewer overflows (CSOs) - since 2019.

This year's figures are down 11% from 2020 when there were 106,094 reported CSOs with 872,976 hours of discharge.

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The latest spill data from Hafren Dyfrdwy, which has sewage works in some parts of mid and north Wales, indicate 1,675 CSOs last year with a duration of 6,583 hours.

That is more than the 1,269 CSOs in 2020 when the duration was nearly twice as high at 12,340 hours.

'Action needed quickly'

The charity Afonydd Cymru, which translates as Welsh rivers, says river pollution is an urgent issue

Afonydd Cymru, the umbrella body representing six river trusts across Wales, said spills were happening "far too frequently and are not operating during exceptional rainfall only".

The charity also put the small decrease in CSOs in 2021 down to "weather patterns".

"CSOs are one element of a number of impacts to our watercourses and we expect funding and solutions to be prioritised to achieve the greatest environmental benefit," said the charity's chief executive Gail Davies-Walsh.

"Despite a climate change and nature emergency declared by the Welsh government, our Welsh rivers are still in decline, [with] one in six species at risk of extinction and salmon and sea trout populations either at risk or probably at risk across Wales," said Ms Davies-Walsh.

She added: "We need to see action, and quickly if the situation is to improve."

'We know the risk'

Lifeboat crews report regularly seeing toilet paper, condoms, tampons and brown froth in the Wye and Severn rivers

As part of a team that responds to flooding and water incidents in Monmouthshire, Mr Deveney said crews had "no choice" but to go into contaminated water to help people in trouble.

"We know the contamination risk but somebody that needs our help, we will still go and help them," he said.

The team trains on the River Wye between Bigweir Bridge and Monmouth.

Mr Deveney said getting sick from river water had "opened his eyes" to the issue.

"We're always on the lookout for… contaminated water," he said.

"You see brown, you see toilet paper in some parts of it, condoms, sometimes sanitary products and when you think of it being in your river and the kind of brown foam you get in turbulent water."

Mr Deveney said he often sees people on the river between Monmouth and Chepstow, including paddle boarders, kayakers and swimmers, and was worried they may get sick too.

"Sometimes it's not the nicest environment," he said.

"It's not an advert... for the Wye Valley, and I would discourage people from swimming in it... and that goes against my belief in enjoying the water."

'Highly monitored'

Welsh Water said CSOs played a "vital role" in preventing homes from being flooded, and that the system in Wales, which sees surface water draining into the same pipes as sewage, is "highly monitored".

"We are pleased that our investment in recent years has played a part in helping reduce the number of spills by 10% in 2021, despite us adding monitors to an additional 198 CSOs in the same year," a spokesperson said.

The not-for-profit company said 99% of CSOs were now monitored in Wales, and that research by NRW showed they had "a very limited impact on water bodies in Wales".

The spokesperson said removing them would cost between £9bn and £14bn and involve "digging up almost every street in Wales".

Welsh Water added that it recognised more needed to be done to improve water quality, and would be investing £800m in the waste-water network over the five years to 2025, including £100m to improve CSOs.

A spokesperson for Hafren Dyfrdwy's parent company, Severn Trent, said storm overflows accounted for "3.5% of rivers not achieving good ecological status", adding that 36% of river pollution comes from agriculture.

Mr Deveney said he understood that fixing the problem would cost billions and would cause widespread disruption.

"But somebody needs to hold their hands up and deal with it," he said.

"Saying sorry or saying 'yes, we have identified x amount... has over spilt', well in my eyes one hour is too much because it could be somebody else's loved one that may not have the physical strength and or physical state to be able to cope with [giardiasis]."