Freya Johns: Most of All, I Want to Know the Water Is Safe

Across Wales, young people are describing what water pollution looks like in their everyday lives. Through our Not So Freshwater campaign, Voices for Freshwater are sharing personal stories from rivers, coasts and communities across the country — and setting out what they want the next Welsh Government to change.

Freya Johns, one of our Voices for Freshwater spokespeople, reflects on living along the River Teifi on the west coast of Wales.

How does water pollution show up where you live?

On the west coast of Wales, water pollution shows up as a foamy sea that smells foul, and rivers that run brown instead of clear. It’s water I don’t swim in, and don’t let the dog drink. It’s algae catching on a canoe paddle. It’s dead fish on the beach.

I’ve lived at different points along the River Teifi, from its source in the Cambrian Mountains to the estuary at Cardigan/Aberteifi. You can see the water change as it travels downstream, getting dirtier as it flows past manure-covered fields and sewage treatment works.

In summer, its not so bad, but I’ve never known the Teifi to be clear. I don’t know what it looks like when it’s clean and alive.

How does it affect your relationship with nature or your community?

It changes how I feel about the people and places around me. It starts small with the surfers in the coffee shop, angry and worn down, saying they can taste the shit. It’s heading to the sea for a swim and deciding not to get in, because I don’t want to get sick.

I find it hard not to resent Welsh Water when our bills are so high and the water still isn’t safe. And I find it hard not to blame the farmers in the village, even though they’re doing their best with the cards they’ve been dealt: poor land, grim weather, and not enough funding.

Local people care, and local people are angry. But they don’t understand why this keeps happening, because this is the way things have always been done.

What do you want the next Welsh Government to protect or change?

I want the next Welsh Government to properly fund farmers, so they can change how they work without being pushed further into survival mode. I want incentives that make it easier to do the right thing, not harder.

I want more citizen science — regular, visible testing of rivers that involves local people and helps everyone understand where pollution is really coming from, and what the real risks are. I want better public education, so this doesn’t stay confusing or hidden.

I want Welsh Water to use public money for public good, and to pay to fix it when they mess it up.

Most of all, I want to know that the rivers and the sea are safe to swim in.

Join Not So Freshwater & take action

If you want rivers like the Teifi — and seas along the west coast — to be safe to swim in, now is the time to act.

Send our election manifesto to your Member of the Senedd (MS) and ask them to commit to protecting and restoring Wales’ rivers and seas.

Add your voice. Share this story. Help make sure clean water becomes a priority for the next Welsh Government.