July 18, 2025 - 818 views
Natural Resources Wales has criticised Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water for an unacceptably high number of sewage pollution incidents in the last ten years.
New data shows a 42% increase in sewage incidents since 2014, with a total of 150 incidents recorded last year.
The company has been issued with urgent and enforceable actions to improve their performance, including introducing new monitoring teams, and guidance for pollution reduction plans.
Of the total number of incidents, the company was responsible for six serious (category one or two) incidents - a drop from seven last year. Five of these were from sewerage assets and were all category two.
Analysis over the last ten years shows that the main source of incidents come from foul sewers (423), storm overflows (168) and water treatment works (166).
Nadia De Longhi, Head of Regulation and Permitting at Natural Resources Wales, said: “We’ve seen a huge deterioration in the performance of Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water since 2020, and despite repeated warnings and interventions they’ve been unable to reverse this concerning trend.
“This has left us with no choice but to pursue a number of prosecutions against the company which have recently concluded.
“This is not the outcome we want, nor the best outcome for the environment – our priority will always be to bring companies into compliance and prevent environmental damage from happening in the first place.
“We continue to do everything we can to drive improvements, but Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water must address the root cause of these pollution incidents and take preventative measures before more harm is done to the water environment.
“We will be increasing our capacity for monitoring and auditing discharges, clamping down on unpermitted storm overflows and introducing tighter criteria for annual performance reporting. This will ensure we are receiving the best quality data about the impact of water company operations on the environment and can respond appropriately.”
