Water Quality

Citizen science (kick sampling) fascinated children and adults alike and gave them an insight into life on the riverbed, with aquatic invertebrates such as insect larvae, snails, worms, and beetles. These can be indicators of the state of the river's health.

Children were well informed about pollution in the river before the project. Their concerns were shared by fishermen, businesses, tourists, and people living by the river (especially opposite the sewage work).

Mapping the river workshops comments:

  • Compost loos in hotels and campsites
  • Reed beds could be used more, they don’t need much space
  • People are more aware of pollution in the river
  • Why pay all my water /sewage bill when they give me water but just dump the sewage’ Why not only pay half of your Dwr Cymru bill until its sorted.
  • Test the tributaries and act to prevent pollution in them getting to the Teifi.
  • Too many dumped shopping trolleys.I’m on holiday but there’s the same problem in in Shrewsbury)
  • It is not too much to ask for and expect clean safe water for swimming in the river and where it ends on the beaches.
  • I wouldn’t let my kids swim in it anymore… just because of all the grey and brown sewage floating past
  • All Sewage works should have a reed bed. Buy more strips of land if that is needed. Its worth it in a cost benefit analysis
  • Who is holding the water companies and public bodies to account? Their impact is far greater than the impact of farming and yet farmers take most of the blame.
  • We want a water treatment system that works. I thought that Dwr Cymru were going to put in a reed bed system, but they think they don’t have enough land. The thing is that they do. They could zig-zag it or construct it on contours to filter.
  • We want wastewater tanks that people could use. We mean grey water that can be used on the gardens. We think planners should include tanks in new builds and calculate the size of the gardens so that the rainwater and wastewater soaks in rather than runs off.
  • What comes out has high levels of phosphates. The sewage works at Lampeter, Llanybydder and Newcastle Emlyn are all adding to the problem. So, when you get down to the Lower Teifi, it’s more concentrated.
  • Our drinking water is abstracted from the river at Llechryd. They must add three chemicals to the water so it’s clear and potable. We could be using UV or fewer chemicals if we had a cleaner river.
  • Everything is driven towards monoculture, but that's not what previous generations of traditional farmers did. Farmers today need to re-connect with the 'story' passed down by their ancestors of how they used to farm.
  • It takes imagination and determination to make changes. Currently there's an attitude in my age group that you can't, yet farmers are taking thousands in subsidies. They need help to change their ways by adding to the infrastructure. In my opinion, if farmers want hand-outs, they should sign up to an environmental scheme. And, if they're part of the scheme, they are part of the country working towards better standard of farming practices.
  • Farms should be companies and the farmers are directors. You can pass on the directorship. That way they don't have death duties, but they are stewards of the countryside.
  • When you live off the land, you're hungry and your life depends on it, you can either go down the route of shooting and killing everything (which is shortsighted) or you can work towards the future and for the generations in front of you.
  • Climate change is triggering everything. We're in a society that is grabbing land, territories, minerals and the water. You can see things running out, especially when you've got big farms with 3000 dairy cows.

Please follow the link to The People's Plan to read the Community's Recommendations