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Welsh Water fined £1.35m for over 800 breaches to sewage discharge permits

The charges relate to Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water’s self-monitoring data submitted to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) as part of its 2020 and 2021 annual reports. Due to the volume of non-compliances, the charges were summarised into 18 offences for the court’s benefit.

On the 16th October 2024 at Llandudno Magistrates Court, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water pleaded guilty to 15 out of the 18 charges. On the 17th December 2024 the company accepted the remainder of the Taken into Consideration (TIC) charges.

Since 2010 there has been a requirement on water companies to carry out self-monitoring of their effluent discharges from their sewage works and water treatment works.

Upon receiving its 2020 annual report, NRW officers say they were alarmed to find that the quality of the information provided had noticeably deteriorated compared to previous years, with over 600 breaches recorded. These were spread across some three hundred sites across Wales and Herefordshire.

In interviews, and in their defence in court, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water explained that an internal restructure of the sampling team and IT-related scheduling issues coupled with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic were the main factors in the deterioration.

NRW say that while the situation had significantly improved by the submission of the 2021 annual report, a number of non-compliances were again identified, albeit these were less in number.

The environmental agency said that Welsh Water should have had contingency plans in place to ensure the company met their legal duty to comply with their permits while going through the restructure.

Missing samples and data from the 2020 reporting year means that NRW was unable to fully assess or respond to any environmental impacts. While it’s possible that individually, these non-compliances may have been minor, NRW considers the cumulative impact of all the breaches significant in terms of environmental impact.

Siân Williams, Head of Operations from Natural Resources Wales said: “This case highlights inadequacies in the processes at Dŵr Cymru which led to widespread permit breaches across Wales and over the border during a period of two years.

“While we appreciate the disruption all businesses faced during 2020 with the Covid-19 pandemic, we believe the failings shown by Dŵr Cymru were avoidable should better contingency planning have been in place.

“Dŵr Cymru’s performance has continued to decline for a number of years now, and this is a stark warning to the company that we will not hesitate to use our enforcement powers to secure the improvements we expect to see.”

NRW has downgraded Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water from a four-star (industry leading) company in 2020 to two-star (requires improvement) company in 2022 and 2023 as part of its annual Environmental Performance Assessment.

During 2023, Dŵr Cymru recorded it’s worst performance against the environmental performance metrics measured, with a spike in significant pollution incidents and a decrease in incident self-reporting.

The descriptive permit non-compliances dealt with by this prosecution are not included as part of the Environmental Performance Assessment matrix.

Siân continued: “The court’s decision is the culmination of this complex investigation into the company’s performance across Wales and Herefordshire. I’d like to pay tribute to the diligence and commitment of our regulatory teams in securing permit compliance and enforcing the systemic changes needed within the company.

“We will not hesitate to use our regulatory and enforcement powers where it is the appropriate thing to do to bring any permit holder into compliance.

“In line with our ongoing focus on water quality in Wales, we are investing more resources in frontline compliance monitoring and have increased our auditing of Dŵr Cymru’s self-monitoring activities.”

#DwrCymru #Environment #NaturalResourcesWales #pollution #WelshWater

Swansea Bay Sewage Scandal: Tawe named as one of the most polluted rivers in UK

According to data published today, the River Tawe is one of the most sewage-polluted in the entire UK.

Figures released today show that Dwr Cymru released sewage into rivers, lakes and the sea for more than 968,000 hours last year, an increase compared to more than 916,000 hours the year before, despite the public outrage and campaigns by groups like Surfers Against Sewage.

The River Tawe saw a staggering 2,173 sewage dumps in 2024, lasting 16,144 hours. This made it the 14th most polluted river in the entire UK.

Meanwhile, the River Neath saw sewage dumped 1,351 times, lasting 7,507 hours.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats, who have been campaigning to clean up Welsh rivers over several years, have stated that the new figures were ‘catastrophic’ for local wildlife and risk damaging tourism and public health.

The Party has stated that the Welsh Government have been ‘asleep at the wheel’, using Dwr Cymru’s position as a so-called ‘non-profit’ and ‘arm’s length’ organisation to avoid proper regulation and accountability.

They have also criticised the previous Conservative UK Government for failing to clamp down on the financial regulation of water companies, with Dwr Cymru having paid out huge bonuses to executives in recent years, despite having one of the worst environmental records of all companies and continuing to charge customers the highest bills in the UK.

Commenting, Welsh Liberal Democrat Senedd Candidate for Gwyr Abertawe (Swansea West & Gower) and Swansea Councillor for Waterfront Ward, Sam Bennett said: “The Welsh Liberal Democrats have consistently pressed both the UK and Welsh Governments to take meaningful action on this growing environmental crisis. Yet, Welsh Labour has remained asleep at the wheel—using Dŵr Cymru’s status as an arm’s-length body as an excuse to avoid proper regulation and accountability.

“As a result, we’ve seen Dŵr Cymru hike customer bills and hand out ridiculously large bonuses to its executives, all while ranking among the worst water polluters in the UK.

“Our rivers and seas are vital to our wildlife, our culture, and our economy—particularly tourism—and they deserve far better stewardship.

“If elected to the Senedd next year, I will use my voice to continue to hold both water companies and governments to account.”

Adding her comments, Welsh Lib Dem Leader & Senedd Candidate for Neath Jane Dodds MS said: “For years, the Conservatives allowed water companies to get away with polluting our beautiful local rivers while paying out massive and undeserved bonuses, all while charging Welsh customers record-breaking prices.

“The Welsh Labour Government must get to grips with this crisis and properly regulate Welsh Water and ensure there are real, enforceable punishments for breaking the rules and damaging our waterways.

“We’ve been pushing them for years on this issue, but they’ve totally failed to even start to get to grips with it.

#DwrCymru #featured #JaneDodds #Neath #pollution #RiverNeath #RiverTawe #SamBennett #Swansea #WelshLiberalDemocrats #WelshWater

Bumper water bills set for Welsh Water customers

The increase by the not-for-profit water provider means the average bill will be £639 in April 2025 – up from £503 last year.

Further increases will happen every year for the next five years, totalling a 49% rise in water bills by 2029.

This would make Welsh Water the most expensive water company in the UK.

The water company say the increases are needed to fund more than £4bn in investment for its services including £2.5bn on projects to improve the environment.

It says that the price increase comes following a period of fifteen years when the company kept price rises below the rate of inflation and compares to an industry average rise of 26%.

Welsh Water say its customers will now pay an average of £1.75 a day for drinking water that is consistently ranked as equal highest quality in the world.

The investment would fund work to reduce pollution, upgrade and build new assets, reduce leakage, and improve water quality. The work will create 2,000 new jobs in Welsh Water’s supply chain.

Some of the schemes that will be started during 2025-26 include improving river quality in Corwen, Llanfoist, Letterston and Lampeter, work on 23 storm overflows, 75km of mains replaced, mostly in West Wales and work to upgrade the dams at Cwm Celyn, Usk, Cwmwernderi Tower and Craig Goch.

Welsh Water Interim Chief Financial Officer Samantha James said: “We understand the financial pressures that some of our customers are facing, and we are doing more than ever before to help those who are struggling.

“If you are struggling to pay your bill, please get in touch with us. We have a dedicated team who can help you find what you are entitled to. We have a strong track record of providing meaningful financial support to those that need it’

“Over the past 15 years we’ve done all we can to keep bills low and affordable for our customers, delivering financial support packages to ensure all our customers have access to our services.

“But now it’s time for a step change in investment, to improve performance and service delivery, adapt our networks to the climate crisis, and do more to protect our rivers and seas.

“This record investment will help us deliver the improvements our customers want to see.”

Responding to the increase, Welsh Liberal Democrat Westminster Spokesperson David Chadwick said: “Welsh customers are paying the price for Government incompetence.

“Under the last Conservative UK Government and current Welsh Labour Government in Cardiff Bay, Dwr Cymru was able to get away with minimal oversight.

“They spent years paying out excessive executive bonuses despite being a ‘non-profit’ and having one of the worst environmental records in the country.

“Welsh customers will now have the highest water bills in the UK, despite having some of the lowest incomes, it’s an absolute disgrace.”

Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change, Janet Finch-Saunders MS, said: “This latest water bill hike from Dŵr Cymru is unacceptable, especially given Dŵr Cymru’s track record in Wales, with residents in Conwy earlier this month dealing with horrendous disruption with people unable to access any clean water.

“With Wales facing four times as many sewage discharges proportionally than England, and water bills in Wales set to become the highest in England and Wales, it feels like they’re flushing our money down the drain.

“Dŵr Cymru have been dragging their feet for years on necessary infrastructure upgrades and the public shouldn’t have to foot the bill for water companies’ long-standing failures and reluctance to upgrade their infrastructure until it’s far too late.”

Andrew RT Davies MS, Senedd Member for South Wales Central and former Leader of the Welsh Conservatives has also criticised the increase, saying: “These bill rises are going to put unbelievable pressure on hard-pressed households.

“It’s frankly unacceptable that in a modern country, people are having to stump up these sums just to have clean, running water, while the prize of unpolluted waterways still looks a long way off.

“Water bosses are paid far too much considering the outcomes we’re seeing on water bills and in our water quality, so it’s time we see performance-related pay for the top brass so they really have skin in the game.”

Support for those who struggle to pay

Welsh Water say they have a range of support available to customers who are struggling to pay their bills.

The company says it contributes £14m a year to maintain the its social tariffs schemes that help those who are struggling, by limiting the amount they pay.

The schemes currently support 150,000 customers, with Welsh Water’s not-for-profit model funding £73m over the next 5 years for its financial support packages. Over the past five years £64m has been used to fund social tariffs.

Customers who receive means-tested benefits can apply for the The HelpU tariff that helps the lowest income households, whilst the WaterSure Wales tariff caps the annual metered bill, so you won’t pay over a certain amount for the year.

Support is also available for working households who are struggling to make ends meet through the Cymuned scheme.

#DwrCymru #waterBill #WelshWater

L’acqua privatizzata in bancarotta nel Regno Unito: la storia di un fallimento annunciato https://altreconomia.it/lacqua-privatizzata-in-bancarotta-nel-regno-unito-la-storia-di-un-fallimento-annunciato/ #’Officeofwaterservice #rinazionalizzazione #cartolarizzazione #privatizzazionie #Approfondimento #aziendeidriche #Anglianwater #inquinamento #Thameswater #Welshwater #debiti #Tamigi #acqua

Cwmfelin Social Club closed its doors in August 2023 after a sinkhole appeared in the club’s car park, forcing 600 members and 20 employees to leave the building.

The culvert which is 10 meters under the club and a disused tramline are understood to be the reasons for the vast cavity.

Michael Kennedy, secretary of Cwmfelin Social Club, said:

“The size of the sinkhole was no more than a dustbin lid at the time.

“It’s 12 months, nobody has come forward with any solution to the problem and we are going into the second year now.

“It’s so frustrating, for everybody involved, that we stand here today and we still don’t have a solution.”

Both Welsh Water and Network Rail say they are working to find a resolution with nearby sewage pipes and a railway line impacted by the sinkhole. However, both organisations say the club and the giant hole sitting on private land is proving challenging.

A spokesperson for Dwr Cymru Welsh Water said:

“Restoring the sewer network is proving extremely challenging due to the difficult ground conditions around the sinkhole, the location of existing buildings, and the nearby railway line.

“We are discussing with the other agencies involved to see if we can work together to resolve this.”

A Network Rail spokesperson added:

“We remain satisfied that the sinkhole on private land in the Cwmbwrla area of Swansea poses no imminent risk to the railway.

“However, we are in the process of negotiating an asset protection agreement with Welsh Water to allow work to be undertaken in the vicinity of the railway.”

Councillor Peter Black, representing the Cwmbwrla ward, said:

“Some of the residents who live on Carmarthen Road, right next to the club, they have had to put up vibrations and noise from the pumping station.

“A lot of people in this area used to use that club, it was a major social centre for the community.

“They have been denied that now and no one seems to know what is going to happen and how we are going to get the club back. It is important we get this club back for the community.”

https://swanseabaynews.com/2024/10/27/swansea-social-club-on-edge-of-giant-sinkhole-no-closer-to-finding-a-solution/

#CwmfelinSocialCLub #NetworkRail #Sinkhole #WelshWater