Aquifers are underground layers of permeable rock, sand, sediments or soil which collect and hold water. They are the usual source of springs and wells and can create underground reservoirs. In our town, Llanelli, they are common and the unseen collections of water below the ground are both a marvel and sometimes a problem and even a danger
AQUIFERS FOR FIGHTING FIRES
Llanelli has quite a number of areas where Aquifers are recorded. All along the coastal margin there are several large aquifers. They were mapped by the fire service during the second world war to be tapped if needed if Llanelli was bombed. Also 2 large artesian underground reservoirs were earmarked for use in emergency firefighting, which are beneath Furnace. Village and school.
YSGOL GYMRAEG Y FFWRNES
Sometimes these aquifers get in the way. The new Ffwrnes School had to be built on the artesian Stradey Fault, causing some delay, as standard foundations failed and the school needed to be built on floating foundations. The environmental assessment at the planning stage advised that the pressure beneath the foundations should be monitored and a system put in to vent water . It was planned to install attenuation ponds and underground water storage to try to control the waters beneath.
FFYNON ELLI
I believe that a mineral water produced from, Ffynon Elli, was once sold as bottled water from the aquifers beneath Furnace . This was one of the 7 wells and springs from which Llanelli obtained drinking water prior to the building of the Trebeddrod Reservoir in 1854 which then became the main source of drinking water.
A HOLY WELL?
Ffynon Elli was thought to be a holy well, the water said to have health giving properties, Its exact site is unknown now, but there were at least 2 wells in the area, one said to be on Cille land and one somewhere between Old road and New Road.
Llanelli is ideal for extracting water, not only has the town got a large amount of water underneath it, but also multiple artesian springs in the higher land behind the town. As the rainfall is increasing due to climate change , some of these are now more active. Perhaps a local entrepreneur will one day consider reviving some of our wells and springs commercially?
RAINSCAPE – HAS THE STATION AQUIFER SLOWED THE SCHEME?
Another area where the aquifers have caused problems is where they block developments, most recently related to Rainscape. This project was designed to stop the large numbers of sewage spills currently still being made into the Loughor Estuary This is a protected NATURA area, but as the local sewage treatment plant could not cope with the volumes, the sewage had to be vented into the Estuary to stop backflow flooding of raw sewage into residential parts of the town.
LIES AND DECEPTION – LETS PRETEND NOTHING HAS HAPPENED.
Unfortunately the constant sewage spills have destroyed some of the rare wildlife in the Estuary and in 2005 a major sewage spill caused a mass death event which wrecked the shellfish industry. The local Cockle Hand Gatherers led by Robert Griffiths and the Stradey Residents Association, led by their chair, David Rees, took a case against the UK Government in the European Court which proved that Welsh Water, with the collusion of Carmarthenshire County Council and the Environment Agency (now NRW),were allowing unlawful Sewage spills. In order to satisfy the court judgement in 2016 the UK promised to address the infringement. I have heard that some in Natural Resources Wales claim that as we have left the EU there is no need to follow their environmental laws. This is completely untrue.
BE CAREFUL WHO YOU VOTE FOR – IF YOU WANT TO PRESERVE THE ENVIRONMENT
Our environment has been injured by sewage spills and they are still happening under the watch of our Senedd, Natural Resources Wales which should protect our environment but does not in this case, and Carmarthenshire County Council, whose excessive house building in the clear knowledge that there is insufficient sewage capacity to treat the human waste products , is yet another disgrace our Councillors have foisted on us.
EXACTLY WHEN WILL THE SEWAGE POLLUTION STOP?
The Rainscape project is running late after hitting a large aquifer underneath the station. I have been told that the large drain along Station road has been dug through the aquifer but that there are still problems with back flows of water.
The major goal of Rainscape is a plan to remove surface water, which used to run into the sewers, and pump it via Delta Lakes out into the sea This was planned to allow the volume of the sewage to be reduced so that the sewage spills could stop. Welsh Water’s own figures show that the spills still continue frequently. The cockles have returned, but are slow growing and stunted, smaller than they used to be. The recent train derailment has also polluted the estuary and it is not yet clear how much more damage has been done to the fishery..
SURELY IT IS TIME TO CLEAN UP THE BURY INLET AND STOP THE SEWAGE POLLUTION?
It’s a shame that a town with so much water can’t keep its shore clean of sewage, and even more of a shame that it is elected politicians, council officials and government bodies who should have cleaned up the mess caused by the town’s sewage pollution, and decided, in many cases, not to bother! Even when the European court found that Llanelli was polluting its own estuary against the environmental laws , what has happened? As far as I can see, very little.
