Water company to pay £45m after 'unacceptable' sewage breaches

Welsh Water is set to pay a proposed £44.7m after the industry regulator found "serious and unacceptable" breaches in the supplier's sewage and network services.

Ofwat said the supplier failed to properly operate, maintain and upgrade its wastewater network to ensure it could cope with levels of sewage and wastewater, and did not have adequate processes in place or oversight by senior bosses.

The planned enforcement package will include £40.6m to reduce spills and reduce the environmental damage caused, and an extra £4.1m to improve river quality.

Ofwat stressed the payment amounted to more than a fine, which would have been £40m, and Welsh Water has accepted the findings and apologised.

The case is the seventh in a series of Ofwat investigations into all water and wastewater companies in England and Wales.

Thames Water was fined nearly £123m following two investigations into the company, while other water firms will pay enforcement packages of between £11m and nearly £63m.

"Our investigation has found serious and unacceptable breaches in how Dwr Cymru Welsh Water has operated and maintained its sewage works and networks, which has resulted in excessive spills from storm overflows to the environment," said Lynn Parker from Ofwat.

"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."

The enforcement package will also tackle groundwater entering the sewer network - a major cause of frequent spills - and the money towards improving river quality will be spent 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.

The Welsh government said the findings of the investigation were "disappointing but represent a welcome step in strengthening transparency, regulatory oversight and ensuring action by Dŵr Cymru and other water companies".

"Protecting public health and the environment is our priority. While regulatory decisions sit with Ofwat, we would expect companies to respond decisively and deliver required improvements without delay."

Rhodri Williams from the Consumer Council for Water said the findings were "no surprise to anyone".

He said pollution stories and campaign warnings about waste being discharged into rivers and seas had been raised for years, prompting the regulator to intervene in the case of several water companies.

He described the action as "good news" for customers but said it remained to be seen whether Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water "will be able to respond in a way that 'delivers' a service customers deserve".

Welsh Water is permitted to discharge into the Wye, among other rivers, which has become the focus of widespread concerns over the worsening state of the UK's waterways.

The Wye flows for 155 miles from its source in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales along the border with England to the Severn Estuary.

Angela Jones, a swimmer and River Wye campaigner from Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, said the situation was "endless" and "relentless".

She said stronger regulation was needed around sewage dumping, arguing it was "cheaper to chuck it in the river and get a fine than it is to actually deal with it".

Jones said she no longer swam in the River Wye, saying: "It's ridiculous and now I have to drive all the way up to Snowdonia [national park in Gwynedd known as Eryri] if I want to try and get a swim," she explained.

A Welsh Water spokesperson said: "We accept the findings of Ofwat's investigation and apologise for where we have fallen short of the standards that our customers and regulators rightly expect from us.

"We have started a major transformation programme across the company, including within our wastewater services, focused on improving performance, strengthening operational oversight and accelerating investment to deliver better outcomes for rivers and coastal waters.

"The investigation has considered both historic and more recent compliance, and we accept that improvements are needed."

A consultation on the package is now open to the public and key stakeholders have until 2 April to offer comments and responses before Ofwat announces its final decision.

Responding to the enforcement action against Dŵr Cymru, Plaid Cymru spokesperson for Climate Change, Delyth Jewell MS said people were "fed up" with rising bills and worsening sewage pollution while water companies faced "little consequences".

Reform UK said the updates to Dŵr Cymru needed to "deliver fast results to stop further damage to our waterways".

Welsh Conservative Shadow Climate Change Secretary Janet Finch-Saunders MS said Dŵr Cymru had made "serious and unacceptable failures" that were "compromising waterways and failing communities".

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said communities were "sick of hearing apologies whilst raw sewage continues to pollute our rivers" and called on Ofwat to be replaced.

A Green Party spokesperson said Dŵr Cymru was "paying the price for letting down over three million people across Wales".

It said the company's performance had been "unacceptable for years" and that Ofwat had been "too slow to act".

They said the Labour government had promised a regulator for Wales but "has dithered over its powers and who will run it".