Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water will pay out £44.7 million for “serious” breaches in its sewage and network services and must now focus on “putting things right”, regulator Ofwat has announced.
The water watchdog said it had accepted the supplier’s settlement package, which was first proposed in March, following consultation.
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 enforcement package will include £40.6 million to reduce spills at specific overflows and reduce the environmental damage caused, tackle groundwater entering the sewer network, as well as an extra £4.1 million to improve river quality in “extremely sensitive catchments”.
Lynn Parker, senior director for enforcement at Ofwat, said: “Our investigation found serious and unacceptable breaches in how Dwr Cymru Welsh Water has operated its wastewater assets which has resulted in excessive spills to the environment.
“With this investigation now concluded, we expect the company to focus on putting things right so that customers can regain trust in their water company.”
A Welsh Water spokesperson said: “We acknowledge the findings of Ofwat’s investigation and apologise for where we have fallen short of the standards that our customers and regulators rightly expect.
“The investigation considered both historic and more recent compliance, and we recognise that improvements are needed. Over the past year, we have already begun a major transformation programme across the business, including our wastewater services, focused on improving governance, strengthening operational oversight, accelerating investment and delivering better outcomes for customers and the environment.
“While we know there is much more to do and that it will take time to get to the level of performance our customers and regulators rightly expect, we are beginning to see early signs of progress in some key areas of performance. During 2025/26, leakage has started to reduce following increased repair activity and progressive metering, customer complaints relating to water quality have reduced following targeted work on our network, and incidents of internal sewer flooding have reduced.
“This £45 million redress package will deliver additional environmental improvements and help reduce the impact of storm overflows.”
The statement continued: “As part of this package, £42 million will be invested in reducing spills from specific storm overflows and tackling groundwater entering the sewer network – a major contributor to frequent spills. This will include targeted investment at priority sites, alongside investigations and improvement work to reduce infiltration across parts of the network.
“A further £2 million will support improvements to river habitats, while a new £1 million Cymuned Natur Fund will provide practical support to community groups and charities working to protect and enhance the environment across Wales.
“These commitments are additional to our £4.2 billion investment programme for 2025–2030, including £2.5 billion dedicated to environmental improvements and £889 million specifically targeted at improving storm overflows.
“We are determined to deliver the sustained improvements that our customers, communities and regulators rightly expect, and this work forms an important part of that commitment.”
