Welsh Water fined £1.3m for 800 sewage breaches

DWR Cymru Welsh Water has been fined £1.35m after admitting 800 breaches of its environmental permits to discharge sewage.

- RUTH MOSALSKI

The water company said an internal restructure, IT issues and the pandemic were to blame, but regulator Natural Resources Wales (NRW) criticised the company for “inadequacies” in its processes which it called “avoidable”.

NRW said the case was “landmark” and showed it “will not hesitate to use our regulatory and enforcement powers”.

Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water pleaded guilty to 15 out of the 18 charges it faced at a hearing in October 2024, accepting the remaining three in December.

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

The charges relate to Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water's self-monitoring data submitted to 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.

Regulator NRW said the 2020 report showed a “noticeable deterioration” compared to previous years, with more than 600 breaches recorded at 300 sites in Wales and Herefordshire.

The company was fined £1.35m and told to pay £70,237.70 in costs.

In interviews, and in its defence in court, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water said 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. While it had got better by the following year, further non-compliances were reported.