Do more to treat polluted water, boss tells government

A water treatment company boss has accused the Welsh government of failing to do enough to tackle river pollution.

Wayne Preece, chief executive of Carmarthenshire-based Hydro Industries, said it was "incredibly frustrating" it had not engaged with the firm or others tackling river and sea pollution.

The Welsh government did not respond to Mr Preece's comments but has said previously it was working with the UK government to clean rivers, lakes and seas.

A multimillion dollar water treatment plant established by Hydro Industries in Ecuador, South America, was officially opened on Friday.

It has been designed to clean more than 190,000 tonnes of landfill leachate - polluted water - which is at risk of leaking into a river in the city of Quito.

Mr Preece said technology used by his company there, and at other sites across the globe, could be used to protect Welsh rivers and watercourses.

"Some of the pollution in Wales related to things like legacy mines - lead, zinc and cadmium, all of which we're taking out here - whether it's around things like sewage discharges into rivers and streams, that's pretty straightforward stuff," he told Newyddion S4C.

"It is incredibly frustrating that we're not engaged, that we're not doing more in Wales and, as I said, I'll repeat to the politicians in Wales to please engage with us because we can help."

The company has claimed to have offered the Welsh government to remove phosphates from a river in Monmouthshire free of charge, but it wasn't taken up.

Friends of the Earth Cymru's Jenny Lloyd also criticised the Welsh government, saying more needed to be done to address river pollution

"This not only has a big impact on our environment, it also affects our health and wellbeing," she said.

"The authorities should be given the finances and resources they need to clean up our rivers and watercourses and protect the environment.".

Neither the Welsh-government nor Natural Resources Wales responded to the comments made by Hydro Industries and Friends of the Earth.

However, Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said earlier this month that the Welsh government was funding a multimillion, multi-year project to address issues such as contamination from former metal mines and was working with the UK government to improve water quality.