WELSH Water staff, along with their contractors working on a £2.5 million upgrade scheme to improve Nant Talwg’s wastewater system, recently conducted a litter pick in Porthkerry Country Park.

Staff worked with Porthkerry Country Park’s ranger, Melanie Stewart, to organise the event which was also well supported by residents in Barry.

The ‘not for profit’ water company wanted to help give something back to the community while carrying out their investment work to replace more than a kilometre of wastewater pipes in the popular walking area in Barry.

Porthkerry Country Park Ranger, Melanie Stewart said: “We are very pleased with the number of local residents and wastewater workers who participated in the event to clean up the park.

“We are very conscious of the impact that litter has on the beauty of our countryside and on the future of our planet, and we want to make sure that the next generation does not suffer from the consequences of our actions.

“We are committed to keeping our community clean and would like to thank Welsh Water and Keep Wales Tidy for their help in organising this successful event.”

Welsh Water’s programme delivery manager, Teresa O’Neil said: “Helping to organise the litter pick event in Porthkerry Country Park was one way for us to show our commitment to protecting the environment and supporting the communities we are working in.

“We would very much like to thank all of the local residents who turned up to help with this event on the day.

“We would also like to thank local residents and visitors to the area for bearing with us while we carry out our essential work

“We know we can sometimes cause disruption in communities when carrying out work to upgrade our assets, and we want to leave them in a better place once we complete our work.

“As such, Welsh Water has set up a Community Fund, which is a chance for communities to boost fundraising efforts for good causes in their area.”

The company has almost completed the work to install two brand new pipes from Nant Talwg pumping station across private land to the rear of the Cwm Ciddy housing estate, before connecting into the existing network on Glamorgan Street Barry.

The work will help to protect the environment in the area for many years to come.

The next part of the work involves relining part of the sewer from Glamorgan Street, before connecting the new pipes into the network.

This section of work will require a road closure on Glamorgan Street and is planned to commence on August 12.

The work will take around five weeks to complete.

More information on the community fund can be found at dwrcymru.com/community-fund