Welsh Water compelled to pay £44.7million after sewage failings

Welsh Water will have to invest £44.7million in its sewerage facilities following an investigation by the water regulator. 

Ofwat said it had found ‘serious and unacceptable’ breaches in how Welsh Water has operated and maintained its sewage works and network.

Welsh Water failed to operate, maintain and upgrade its wastewater systems to ensure they could cope with the flows of sewage and wastewater coming to them. 

The company also failed to have in place sufficient processes and oversight by its senior management and Board to ensure its infrastructure was performing adequately and that it was meeting the legal requirements expected of it.

Helen Brown, Director of Customer Service at the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), says: ‘Just two in five households in Wales are satisfied with their water company’s efforts to protect the environment and this investigation highlights why many customers were justified to have concerns about Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water’s performance.’

‘People care deeply about the health of our rivers, seas, lakes and streams so we’re pleased to see this proposed package of redress would be ploughed into reducing spills and improving river water quality.’

Of the £44.7million proposed enforcement package, £40.6million will be spent by Welsh Water on addressing harm and reducing spills at specific overflow sites. 

The company will also investigate and carry out sealing works on private parts of the sewer network to tackle groundwater infiltration –  a significant contributor to frequently spilling overflows.

The remaining £4.1million will be invested to improve river water quality in extremely sensitive catchments. 

Ofwat said the improvements would need to be delivered by 2030 and added that the costs would be absorbed by the company, and not through higher customer bills. 

A consultation will run until 5pm on 2 April when Ofwat will announce its final decision on the enforcement action. 

The investigation into Welsh Water is the seventh in a sector-wide investigation into water companies. Pending this consultation, Ofwat will have issued enforcement action totalling over £300million.  

Lynn Parker, senior director for enforcement at Ofwat, says: ‘Our investigation has found serious and unacceptable breaches in how Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water has operated and maintained its sewage works and networks, which has resulted in excessive spills from storm overflows to the environment. 

‘We now expect them to focus on putting things right so that customers can regain trust in their water company and the critical service they provide.’

Welsh Water said it accepted the findings of the investigation and ‘apologise for where we have fallen short of the standards that our customers and regulators rightly expect from us.’