Swansea Bay ( cy, Bae Abertawe) is a bay on the southern coast of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The

River Neath River Neath ( cy, Afon Nedd) is a river in south Wales running south west from the point at which its headwaters arising in the Brecon Beacons National Park converge to its mouth at Baglan Bay below Briton Ferry on the east side of Swansea Bay. ...

River Tawe The River Tawe (; cy, Afon Tawe ) is a long river in South Wales. Its headwaters flow initially east from its source below Llyn y Fan Fawr south of Moel Feity in the Black Mountains, the westernmost range of the Brecon Beacons National ...

River Afan , name_etymology = , image = The_Afon_Afan,_Cymmer_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1001060.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = The Afan near Cymmer , map = , map_size = , map_caption ...

, River Kenfig and Clyne River flow into the bay. Swansea Bay and the upper reaches of the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Se ...

experience a large tidal range. The shipping ports in Swansea Bay are Swansea Docks, Port Talbot Docks and

Briton Ferry Briton Ferry ( cy, Llansawel) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The Welsh name may indicate that the church, ''llan'', is protected from the wind, ''awel''. Alternatively, ''Sawel'' may be a derivati ...

wharfs. Each stretch of beach within the bay has its own individual name: * Aberavon Beach *

Baglan Bay Baglan Bay ''( Welsh: Bae Baglan)'' is a part of the Swansea Bay coastline and a district of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. Baglan Bay is also the name of a local government community. Baglan Bay is served by the M4 Motorway and the ...

* Jersey Marine Beach * Swansea Beach * Mumbles Beach

Oyster trade

Oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...

fishing was once an important industry in Swansea Bay, employing 600 people at its height in the 1860s. However, overfishing,

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

and

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, th ...

had all but wiped out the oyster population by 1920. In 2005, plans were announced to reintroduce the Oyster farming industry. Mum lslade sm

Pollution

For the last two decades of the 20th century, the bay was blighted by

, partly from the surrounding heavy industry and partly from

sewerage Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff (stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drainage, drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, a ...

outlets being sited at inappropriate locations including the main one that was located just seaward of

Mumbles Lighthouse Mumbles Lighthouse, completed in 1794, is a lighthouse located in Mumbles, near Swansea. The structure, which sits on the outer of two islands off Mumbles Head, is clearly visible from any point along the five mile sweep of Swansea Bay. Along wi ...

. A

pumping station Pumping stations, also called pumphouses in situations such as drilled wells and drinking water, are facilities containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastructure system ...

inside the cliff adjacent to Knab Rock brought all of Swansea city's effluent in a raw form to this point. Adding to the problem was the natural current flow of the waters in the Bay which often did not move the polluted waters further out to sea. Ironically, the outgoing tide did not carry the raw sewage ''down'' the adjacent

, but instead cause it to be sucked ''in'' around the circumference of the Bay and only then out down the Channel. If not fully discharged on that tide, the incoming tide would then push the same

effluent Effluent is wastewater from sewers or industrial outfalls that flows directly into surface waters either untreated or after being treated at a facility. The term has slightly different meanings in certain contexts, and may contain various pollu ...

up the Channel, and once again circulate around the Bay. Efforts were made by the local authority to reduce the pollution in the Bay but care had to be taken to ensure the pollution did not move to the popular beach resorts in south Gower instead. This original sewer outlet was finally made inactive in around 1996 following the construction of a brand new pipeline which ran all the way back around the Bay following the line of the old

Mumbles Railway The Swansea and Mumbles Railway was the venue for the world's first passenger horsecar railway service, located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Originally built under an Act of Parliament of 1804 to move limestone from the quarries of Mumb ...

as far as Beach Street, along the sea-side of the

Maritime Quarter The Maritime Quarter (including Swansea Marina) is a residential area of Swansea, Wales, UK located immediately south of the city centre shopping core. It falls within Swansea's Castle ward. The area is bounded by Brynmill to the west, Swan ...

and through Swansea Docks to a new £90 million

sewage treatment Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding en ...

plant at Crymlyn Burrows near Port Tennant from which a new outlet was made, extending further out to sea. As a consequence of the huge improvement these works have made, it is hoped that Swansea Bay will achieve

Blue Flag Beach The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach, marina, or sustainable boating tourism operator meets its standards. The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE, which is a not-for-profit non-go ...

status. Aberavon beach was awarded Blue Flag status in December 2007.

Power generation

Fossil

There is one existing GE built gas-fired power station located just inland at Baglan Bay. A second gas fired power station, the "Abernedd Power Station" has been approved for construction.

Biomass plans

A new

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bio ...

power station has been approved for construction near the coast at Port Talbot.

Tidal plans

Swansea Bay (along with the rest of the

) has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world. This offers a potential for electricity generation using tidal lagoons. A proposal has been put forward by Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay Ltd. for a

tidal lagoon Tidal power or tidal energy is harnessed by converting energy from tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity using various methods. Although not yet widely used, tidal energy has the potential for future electricity generation. T ...

to be constructed. The tidal lagoon would be sited just south of the Queen's Dock between

and

estuaries. This project is controversial, partly due to the amount of subsidy required to make the project viable and also because of the potential damage to an

AONB An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of rural area, countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for protected area, conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are desig ...

and MCZ in Cornwall where Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay seek to re-open a disused quarry at Dean Point from which to source the rock for the lagoon.

Wind plans

In addition to tidal power, construction of an offshore windfarm in the Bay has been approved, but construction has now been deferred owing to the costs involved. The windfarm was to have been sited at Scarweather Sands, about off the coast and visible from Porthcawl.

References

External links

Swansea Bay
Official site from South West Wales Tourist Board
An interactive, social networking and tourism web site based on the Gower Peninsula.

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Swansea Bay and surrounding area
{{Economy and Industry of Swansea Bays of Wales Bays of Swansea Bodies of water of Neath Port Talbot