Severn Trent-owned water firm to pay £280,000 after sewage spill failures

Welsh water firm Hafren Dyfrdwy has agreed to pay £280,000 after “unacceptable” failures led to sewage spills, regulator Ofwat has announced.

The industry watchdog said the utility had “failed in its duties to deal effectively with wastewater and sewage”.

Hafren Dyfrdwy, which is owned by Severn Trent, supplies around 109,000 customers across north-east and mid-Wales.

The supplier has put forward plans for a £280,000 package of measures by 2030 to address the problems that came to light in the Ofwat investigation, which must not be paid for through higher customer bills.

Ofwat’s probe found the company failed to provide adequate drainage and deal with the contents of its sewers and did not have the right processes and systems in place to meet requirements.

It comes after Hafren Dyfrdwy has been allowed to hike customer bills by £54, or 9%, to £635 on average in the 2026-27 financial year.

Lynn Parker, senior director for enforcement at Ofwat, said: “Our investigation found unacceptable breaches by Hafren Dyfrdwy, which have resulted in excessive spills from storm overflows.

“We are clear this is unacceptable and now expect the company to focus on putting things right so that customers can regain trust in their water company and the critical service they provide.”

Hafren Dyfrdwy – which means Severn Dee – must take action including putting in place two storm water balancing tanks to reduce spills, and working with a local preservation trust to help create a wetland habitat.

It marks the ninth case in Ofwat’s sector-wide sewage investigation, which it said had already secured more than £300 million in enforcement packages and fines.

Ms Parker said: “We understand that the public wants to see transformative change.

“That is why we are prioritising this sector-wide investigation, which is holding companies, like Hafren Dyfrdwy, to account.”

Steph Cawley, Hafren Dyfrdwy’s managing director, said: “We accept Ofwat’s findings and apologise to our customers for these issues that we’re making good progress with resolving.

“Last year, we reduced average spills to 21.6, from 36.2 the previous year, but we know there’s more to do.”