Massive increase in water bills for people in Wales

Water bills in Wales are going up on average from £503 to £639 from April - around a 27% increase. It's the start of five years of increases that will see household water bills in Wales rise by a total of 42%.

The nation's largest water company, Welsh Water Dwr Cymru, will be allowed to increase its bills from an average of £455 this year to £645 in five years time. Water companies across England and Wales have said that the increases will lead to more investment to deal with problems like leaks and sewage overflows. Hafren Dyfrdwy, which serves about 87,000 customers along the Wales-England border is increasing bills by 32% from April.

Welsh Water said from April clean water would cost "an average of £1.75 a day" and the overall increases would fund a "68 per cent increase in investment" over the next five years. They have said that more than £4bn will be invested in services including £2.5bn on projects to improve the environment.

They say the investment will fund work to reduce pollution, upgrade and build new vital assets, reduce leakage, and improve water quality, while creating 2,000 new jobs in the supply chain. Some of the schemes that will be started during 2025-26, according to Welsh Water, include improving river quality in Corwen, Llanfoist, Letterston and Lampeter, work on 23 storm overflows, 75km of mains replaced, mostly in west Wales and work to upgrade the dams at Cwm Celyn, Usk, Cwmwernderi Tower