Dŵr Cymru to appear before MPs alongside regulators to explain its illegal sewage spillages over several years

20 November 2023

Dŵr Cymru – also known as Welsh Water – will appear before the Welsh Affairs Committee to discuss illegal untreated wastewater spillages at dozens of sewage plants and other issues.

In a three panel session, the MPs will also hear from academic and campaigner Peter Hammond, regulators Ofwat and Natural Resources Wales, before hearing from Dŵr Cymru’s Chief Executive, Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director of Wastewater Services.

Among other issues, the Committee will be interested in hearing what action Dŵr Cymru is now taking to prevent further sewage spills, whether the system of self-reporting is working appropriately and what powers regulators have in penalising water pollution events.

This is the third evidence session the Committee is holding in relation to its work on Water quality in Wales. In April, following the initial hearing, Committee Chair Stephen Crabb wrote to the Minister for Climate Change stressing the urgency that Wales’ ageing combined sewerage system must be replaced to avoid further sewage discharges.

Witnesses 

From 10.00:

Peter Hammond BA MSc PhD MSc, (retired) Professor of Computational Biology, University College London (UCL), now campaigner at Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP)
Gail Davies-Walsh, Chief Executive, Afonydd Cymru
Professor Davey Jones, Professor of Soil and Environmental Science, Bangor University

From 10.30:

David Black, Chief Executive, Ofwat
Clare Pillman, Chief Executive, Natural Resources Wales

From 11.00:

Peter Perry, Chief Executive, Dŵr Cymru
Mike Davis, Chief Financial Officer, Dŵr Cymru
Steve Wilson, Managing Director of Wastewater Services, Dŵr Cymru

Further information

Image: Adobestock