Welsh Water has been downgraded for the second year running after 89 pollution incidents last year. The not-for-profit water company - which came under fire after its boss was awarded £232,000 in bonuses - said it was “disappointed” to have been downgraded and said it recognised its performance is “not where we want it to be”.
The number of pollution incidents caused by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water rose by 9% in 2022, including five with “high or significant” impacts. As a result Natural Resources Wales (NRW), the country’s environmental regulator, has downgraded Welsh Water's performance to a two-star rating, meaning the company “requires improvement”.
The company also failed to make improvements to the number of incidents self-reported to NRW, falling to 65%, a decrease of 7% from 2021. Water companies are expected to self-report incidents to NRW before others do. Without a rapid response, the impact of pollution can escalate and the opportunity for mitigation measures can be lost.
According to NRW, Welsh Water caused 89 sewage pollution incidents in 2022 and 84 of these were categorised as having a low environmental impact. Five incidents were classed as having a high or significant impact.
In response, NRW’s chief executive Clare Pillman called for a "step change in performance that is so clearly needed and called for by us and the public". Ms Pillman said: “It is very disappointing that Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water’s performance has continued to decline.
“Water companies need to take urgent and sustained action to make the changes needed to address the significant pollution incidents we are seeing in our waters.
“In the face of the climate and nature emergencies, the need to act now is ever more important, as our ageing sewer network comes under greater pressure.
“Without sufficient investment and a strong performance management framework from water companies, the environment will continue to pay the price. In our meetings with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water we have been very clear about the improvements they must deliver.”
Welsh Water has already committed to “step-change actions” via its Manifesto for Rivers in Wales strategy. This will see an extra £100 million spent on improving river water quality between now and 2025 – part of a wider £840m investment in the five years to 2025. In Wales, 44% of rivers now meet “good ecological status” – compared to just 14% in England. The country also has around a third of the UK's Blue Flag beaches while only having 15% of the coastline.
A spokesperson said Dŵr Cymru takes its environmental responsibility “very seriously”, adding: “We are working tirelessly to deliver the improvements required in challenging circumstances especially as we experience more severe weather events and extreme variation in the climate. These changes are having a significant and increasing impact on our water and wastewater infrastructure and challenging how we deliver our services.
"While we recorded five serious pollution incidents for 2022, compared with three in 2021, we have the second lowest level of total pollution incidents in the water industry, with the number of pollution incidents having halved over the past 10 years. We are sorry, however, for any environmental harm that we have caused."
The performance of Hafren Dyfrdwy, supplier of drinking water and wastewater services to parts of north east and mid Wales, has also been reviewed but is not subject to a star rating due to its relatively small operating area in Wales.
The company was found to have made improvements in the number of pollution incidents, from eight in 2021 to four in 2022, reporting no significant pollution incidents.
But NRW is still pressing the company to improve its rate of self-reporting incidents, after the company only self-reported two out of four incidents, compared with six out of eight incidents in 2021.
