Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is on track to invest c.£665m in 2025/26 as part of its largest-ever capital investment programme of over £4bn for the 5 years up to March 2030 (AMP8).
Together with its company-wide transformation programme (known as Trawsnewid) the investment will deliver improvements for customers, communities, and the environment.
The first months of the year also recorded Wales’ warmest summer on record, and despite Natural Resources Wales placing much of Wales in environmental drought, Welsh Water avoided any restrictions on customers’ water supplies.
The record investment is delivering major and innovative projects such as the recently opened £13 million wetland storm overflow at Pont-y-felin in Torfaen - the first of its kind in the UK. By harnessing the natural filtering power of wetlands, the site is already reducing the company’s impact on local rivers and setting a model for future sustainable investment.
In October Welsh Water also launched consultations on the largest infrastructure project in the company’s history – the Cwm Taf Water Supply Strategy. The plans will modernise the drinking water network across South Wales, replacing century-old treatment facilities and increasing clean water storage capacity.
Over the last six months climate change has continued to impact the company’s services. Despite the prolonged dry periods over spring and summer, careful management of water supplies meant there was no need for temporary restrictions or ‘hosepipe bans’ across Welsh Water’s operating area – unlike several parts of England.
In the 6 months between April and September 2025, the company made progress on reducing incidents of internal and external flooding, improving river water quality and overall pollution incidents and building on the 576km of rivers improved between 2020 and 2025.
Although the company’s Environmental Performance Assessment will remain at two stars, improvements were noted in four of the seven elements of the EPA measure in the last year, and the total number of pollution incidents is the second lowest in the industry.
The company acknowledges the need to continue making changes in some areas of performance and has detailed plans in place to address this, including improving discharge permit compliance at wastewater treatment works and reducing serious pollution incidents.
Welsh Water raised £450 million in capital from investors in September, and has embarked on a company-wide transformation programme which aims to improve our processes, make better use of technology and ensure that the company’s funds are focussed on front line delivery of services. The company continues to have strong credit ratings and the transformation programme which is well underway is a key part of maintaining this position. Earlier this year, the average household bill increased by 27% and the transformation programme is to review how customer money is spent by the company, how efficient its processes are, and ensuring that value for money is achieved across the supply chain.
CEO Peter Perry will retire in spring 2026 after a 45-year career in the sector, with CEO-elect Roch Cheroux, former CEO of Sydney Water, taking the helm in January.
Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water CEO Peter Perry said:“Whilst we face many challenges today, operational performance is incomparable to what they were when Welsh Water became a not-for-profit company almost 25 years ago. The targets we must meet continue to get tougher as regulators rightly want to push for higher standards; but maintaining increasingly aging assets and the real impact of climate change are making it ever more difficult to strike an acceptable balance between performance improvements and building resilience for the future, at a cost that is acceptable to our customers. We cannot do everything, everywhere all at once – it is not affordable or deliverable, and we must therefore work ever closer with our customers to agree how limited resource is prioritised.
“At Welsh Water we haven’t shied away from these challenges and are continuously looking to drive up performance for our customers and the environment.
“The interim report shows the strong increase in investment as we start delivering our plans for the next five years and the ambition that underlines our mission.
“As my time with the company draws to an end, I am deeply grateful to our employees, the board, our stakeholders and all our partner companies who have supported me over the years.”
Glas Cymru Chair Jane Hanson CBE said: “Our not-for-profit model ensures that our aim is to continuously deliver the best possible service to our customers across our operating area.
“As the water industry navigates significant change, our focus at Welsh Water is on performance improvement and that every penny of our customers’ bills is used for the greatest impact.
“I would also like to use this opportunity pay tribute to Peter Perry, whose leadership has been influential over the past five years.
“On behalf of the Board and everyone at Welsh Water, I want to wish Pete every happiness in his retirement and would like to thank him sincerely for his years of exceptional service for the company.”
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