Hafren Dyfrdwy welcomes Natural Resources Wales report highlighting strong environmental progress
Hafren Dyfrdwy has welcomed the latest Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) report from Natural Resources Wales (NRW), which highlights the company’s continued strong performance in key environmental areas.
As part of NRW’s annual review of water company performance in Wales, Hafren Dyfrdwy was recognised for maintaining its record on serious pollution incidents for the seventh consecutive year, alongside full compliance with numeric discharge permits and reservoir safety standards.
The company, which serves communities in Powys and Wrexham, continues to demonstrate a commitment to environmental protection and sustainable service delivery.
Despite its smaller operating area compared to other water companies in Wales, Hafren Dyfrdwy has consistently delivered high standards.
The report also acknowledged areas for improvement, including a slight rise in lower impact pollution incidents and a dip in self-reporting rates. However, the company remains focused on addressing these challenges through targeted investment and operational enhancements.
Jason Rogers, Head of Water Quality and Environment at Hafren Dyfrdwy, said:
“Hafren Dyfrdwy is making strong progress in key environmental targets, and we welcome this report to show the work and investment that has been put in to achieve these goals.
“While there are many areas within the report that are positive, we all know that more work needs to be done to improve our performance and we continue to work hard to optimise our working practices and the performance of our assets and networks.
“We have a multi-million pound plan up to 2030, which is our biggest ever investment in infrastructure, services and our environmental ambitions, making sure we provide a strong and reliable service that customers deserve, along with huge benefits for the local communities in Powys and Wrexham.
“This record level of investment will make sure we meet the growing expectations of our customers, increase our resilience to climate change and tackle key priorities such as supply interruptions and spills.”
In 2024, Hafren Dyfrdwy demonstrated strong performance across several key environmental indicators:
- Zero serious pollution incidents, maintaining a clean record for the seventh consecutive year.
- 100% compliance with numeric discharge permit conditions for the second year running.
- Supply Demand Balance Index (SDBI) remained at 100 for the seventh year in a row.
- 100% compliance with reservoir safety requirements.
- A positive Operator Monitoring Assessment (OMA) audit by NRW in February 2024, with ratings ranging from good to excellent across all assessed elements.
While the company maintained its strong record on serious pollution, the number of lower impact pollution incidents rose slightly from two to three, and self-reporting of incidents declined from 75% in 2023 to 60% in 2024.
NRW acknowledged Hafren Dyfrdwy’s strong performance, particularly its clean record on serious pollution, but encouraged further improvements in self-reporting and reducing minor incidents.
Looking ahead, NRW has set out clear performance expectations for 2025, including:
- Sustaining zero serious pollution incidents.
- Continuing 100% compliance with numeric discharge limits.
- Delivering AMP8 National Environment Programme (NEP) schemes on time.
- Reducing total pollution incidents and achieving 100% self-reporting, especially where telemetry is available.
- Striving for 100% compliance with descriptive permit conditions, with a focus on storm overflow monitoring.
Hafren Dyfrdwy provides a water only service in Wrexham and parts of Denbighshire and Flintshire and both a water and wastewater service in Powys.
