With Natural Resources Wales declaring a drought across the whole of Wales, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have called out Dwr Cymru over figures recently analysed by the party which show they lost 85,000 million litres of water due to leaks in 2024/2025. That’s the equivalent of 94 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day.

As the country continues to face prolonged drought, hosepipe bans in some areas and others being considered across more areas, David Chadwick MP has called on Dwr Cymru to “urgently get its house in order” by fixing the leaky infrastructure.

With Natural Resources Wales declaring a drought across all of Wales and some areas under a hosepipe ban or the threat of one, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have called out Hafren Dyfrdwy over figures recently analysed by the party which show they lost 5,400 million litres of water due to leaks in 2024/2025. That’s the equivalent of 6 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day.

Hafren Dyfrdwy, the other water company in Wales which serves the North East, lost 5,400 million litres of water due to leaks in 2024/2025, the equivalent of 6 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day.

As the climate continues to change, and heatwaves become commonplace, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have demanded the UK Government include measures to reduce leaks into the Water (Special Measures) Bill.

With 85,000 million litres of water (34,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools) lost due to leaks by Dwr Cymru last year, tackling leaks would go a long way in improving the resilience of the water sector, and helping to mitigate future shortages.

Dwr Cymru’s leaks for 2024-2025 are equivalent to 160 litres of water per customer, per day. That’s enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool 94 times over. David Chadwick MP and the Welsh Liberal Democrats have consistently called for better regulation of Wales’ water industry, and this revelation from data analysed by the House of Commons Library and the Liberal Democrats has only reinforced their calls.

Commenting, Welsh Liberal Democrat Westminster Spokesperson David Chadwick MP said: “Dwr Cymru have got away with their gross mishandling of our water infrastructure for far too long; now these figures prove it. Dwr Cymru needs to urgently get its house in order.

“Whilst people across Wales have had to face hosepipe bans or the threat of one, Dwr Cymru are taking them for a ride. Dwr Cymru must stop rewarding their unaccountable bosses with exorbitant bonuses and start investing in fixing their infrastructure so we can avoid this happening time after time.

“The Government must immediately replace Ofwat with a powerful new regulator in Wales, in order to hold Dwr Cymru to account for its persistent failures. It has been clear for years the current system is not working for our environment or customers.”

In response to Mr Chadwick’s comments, a Welsh Water spokesperson said: “This has been one of the most demanding summers for water supplies in recent years, with prolonged hot and dry weather driving exceptional levels of demand across our operating area.

“Despite these challenging conditions, the vast majority of our customers have continued to receive their water supply as normal and without restrictions. However, we recognise that some communities have experienced periods of low pressure or interruptions to supply, while temporary hosepipe restrictions have been necessary in parts of west Wales. We are sorry to those customers who have been affected and understand the frustration and inconvenience this has caused.

“For prolonged periods this summer, demand has been around 20% above normal, with customers using around one billion litres of water a day across our operating area. Crucially, demand has also remained unusually high overnight, when our network would normally have the opportunity to recover and service reservoirs replenish.

“Our teams have been working around the clock to maintain supplies – maximising production from our treatment works, moving water around the network wherever possible and stepping up the identification and repair of leaks.

“The prolonged dry weather is also having a direct impact on our network. As the ground dries, contracts and moves, it places additional stress on pipes and is contributing to an increase in bursts. We are recruiting and deploying additional repair teams to increase our capacity and tackle leakage as quickly as possible.

“We recognise the strength of feeling about leakage and agree that more needs to be done. We manage around 27,000km of water mains and are committed to reducing leakage by 24% by 2030 as part of our record investment programme of more than £4 billion.

“We are investing in our network, increasing our repair capacity and doing everything we can operationally to maintain supplies during these exceptional conditions. We thank customers for working with us and continue to ask them to use water wisely. Even small reductions in demand, when multiplied across the millions of people we serve, can make a significant difference in helping us keep water flowing to everyone.”