Hafren Dyfrdwy has agreed to pay £280,000 after the industry watchdog found "unacceptable" failures led to sewage spills. Ofwat said the utility firm "failed in its duties to deal effectively with wastewater and sewage".
The company, owned by Severn Trent, supplies around 109,000 customers with water and sewage services in north-east and mid-Wales. It accepts Ofwat's finding and apologised to customers, reiterating that it was committed to putting things right.
Package of measures by 2030
The supplier has put forward plans for a £280,000 package of measures by 2030 to address the problems that came to light in the Ofwat investigation, which must not be paid for through higher customer bills. Ofwat's probe found the company failed to provide adequate drainage and deal with the contents of its sewers and did not have the right processes and systems in place to meet requirements.
The announcement comes after Hafren Dyfrdwy has been allowed to hike customer bills by £54, or 9%, to £635 on average in the 2026-27 financial year.
Watchdog's enforcement action
Lynn Parker, senior director for enforcement at Ofwat, said: "Our investigation found unacceptable breaches by Hafren Dyfrdwy, which have resulted in excessive spills from storm overflows."
"We are clear this is unacceptable and now expect the company to focus on putting things right so that customers can regain trust in their water company and the critical service they provide."
Hafren Dyfrdwy – which means Severn Dee – must take action including putting in place two storm water balancing tanks to reduce spills, and working with a local preservation trust to help create a wetland habitat. It marks the ninth case in Ofwat's sector-wide sewage investigation, which it said had already secured more than £300 million in enforcement packages and fines.
Ms Parker said: "We understand that the public wants to see transformative change. That is why we are prioritising this sector-wide investigation, which is holding companies, like Hafren Dyfrdwy, to account."
Company response and wider context
Steph Cawley, Hafren Dyfrdwy managing director, said: "We're committed in doing our best for the environment, our communities and future generations. We accept Ofwat's findings and apologise to our customers for these issues that we're making good progress with resolving."
"Last year, we reduced average spills to 21.6, from 36.2 the previous year, but we know there's more to do. We're currently delivering a multi-million-pound investment, our biggest ever, with £11m on storm overflow improvements alone putting us on track to reduce spills further to fewer than 20 a year by 2030."
"Our £280,000 redress package will also fund further environmental benefits, making up an investment of £278,000 to create two stormwater balancing tanks, and a £2,000 fund to support the creation of a wetland habitat and tree planting at Llanfyllin Workhouse."
The announcement on Hafren Dyfrdwy comes after Ofwat issued a stern challenge to Dwr Cymru Welsh Water to "put things right" earlier this year as it confirmed the company would pay out £44.7 million after failures in its sewage network and oversight led to a series of spills. Dwr Cymru serves three million people across most of Wales.
