Written question WQ86971
- Asked by
- Huw Irranca-DaviesLabour
- To be answered by
- Minister for Climate Change
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 8 days
Question
What assessment has the Minister made of the measures needed by Dŵr Cymru to turn around its underperformance on investment in water treatment and sewage discharge as highlighted in the most recent Ofwat water and waste water operational performance report?
Answer
Answered by Minister for Climate Change
As part of their PR19 Business Plan (2020-25), Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW) committed to invest £836 million to maintain and improve their wastewater management network to reduce discharges into waterways. This was further increased in August 2022 by £100 million, including an investment of £42 million in the Storm Overflow Assessment Framework (SOAF), which will prioritise wastewater assets for improvement, to reduce both the number and volume of storm water discharges to the environment.
DCWW has invested over £8 million on installing monitors on its Combined Storm Overflows (CSOs). The company now has in place monitors on 99.5% of its CSOs. Data from these monitors is published on their website annually, and real-time alerts are provided to the Surfers Against Sewage ‘Safer Seas and Rivers’ app. DCWW has committed to have the remainder of monitors installed by the end of 2023.
DCWW has confirmed that the profile of their investment over the five-year period is not evenly distributed over each of the five years and will be higher in the second half of the PR19 investment period (2020-25).