Welsh Water is to pay a proposed £44.7m after the industry regulator found “serious and unacceptable” breaches in how the company operates its sewage and network services. Ofwat, the water authority for England and Wales, said the non-profit Dŵr Cymru failed to properly operate, maintain and upgrade its wastewater network to ensure it could cope with sewage levels.
The planned enforcement package includes £40.6m to reduce spills at specific overflows, reduce environmental damage, and tackle groundwater entering the sewer network, plus an extra £4.1m to improve river quality in sensitive catchments. This is one of the largest water company fines in recent years.
Ofwat’s senior director for enforcement, Lynn Parker, said: “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.” She added that the company must focus on putting things right to regain customer trust.
Unlike water companies in England, Dŵr Cymru is a not-for-profit utility supplying 3 million people across most of Wales and parts of Herefordshire. In 2024, Natural Resources Wales found the company responsible for the highest number of sewage pollution incidents in a decade, a 42% increase over ten years. The company has faced previous fines, including £40m in March 2024 for misleading customers and regulators.
Details of the action come as Dŵr Cymru bills are set to rise by 42% by 2029-30. A company spokesperson said: “We accept the findings of Ofwat’s investigation and apologise for where we have fallen short… We have started a major transformation programme across the company.” The Dŵr Cymru case is the seventh in Ofwat’s sector-wide sewage investigation, bringing total proposed fines to over £300m.
