Welsh Water CEO tells Senedd faster repairs would mean higher bills
Households in Flintshire who lost water supply for days when a major trunk main burst in Broughton last August will face bills of £683 this year, and the new chief executive of Dŵr Cymru has told a Senedd committee that deploying more repair crews to fix bursts faster would mean asking customers to pay more.
Roch Cheroux, who became chief executive of Welsh Water in January 2026, appeared before the Senedd’s Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee on 5 March, where he was pressed on the company’s record on burst pipes, pollution and leakage.
During the session, Mr Cheroux told the committee that burst repairs are sometimes delayed because other faults take priority, and that putting more crews on the ground was not a straightforward solution.
“You would be saying, ‘Yeah, but just increase the number of gangs that you’ve got to repair the breaks.’ And that would be a sort of natural answer. Now, the reality is that if we increase the number of gangs repairing the breaks, it means that we also need to increase the bills of our customers, and that’s where we need to have a discussion with our customers, because this decision needs to be shared between Dŵr Cymru and the customers and communities.”
The comments came eight months after a burst on a strategic trunk main near the Bretton treatment works in Broughton left communities across north-east Flintshire without water.
Customers in Flint, Queensferry, Shotton, Connah’s Quay, Garden City, Hawarden and Sandycroft were among those affected.
A temporary repair failed, leaving the pipe, described by the company as four metres underground and close to electricity cables, requiring emergency round-the-clock work. Bottled water stations were set up at the Jade Jones Pavilion in Flint, Deeside Industrial Park and County Hall in Mold.
At the time, then-chief executive Peter Perry apologised to customers. “We’ve got a burst on a strategic trunk main that’s been incredibly difficult to repair… Unfortunately, the initial repair has now failed, and that means that supplies are now off to a large number of customers in north-east Wales, and I am very, very sorry for that.”
Bills for Welsh Water customers are set to rise to £683 in 2026-27.
Janet Finch-Saunders MS (Conservative, Aberconwy), who raised burst repairs and leakage at the 5 March committee session, had already called publicly for the bill increase to be directed at infrastructure.
In a statement last month, she said: “In my constituency of Aberconwy, and across Wales, we have seen a series of burst water mains that have left residents without water, particularly drinkable water, for hours and, in some cases, days.”
Ms Finch-Saunders said the pattern pointed to a deeper problem.
“This is unacceptable and highlights that our existing water infrastructure is not fit for purpose. This needs to be urgently addressed, especially as we head towards the spring and summer months.”
On the bill rise she said: “With water bills set to rise to £683 in 2026-27, I have previously called for this additional money to be used to improve our vital water infrastructure.”
At the committee, Mr Cheroux did not commit to a specific improvement timeline for any named location or metric.
He said the company’s long-term strategy would be shaped through a customer engagement programme this year, with workshops held across Wales. He framed service levels as a matter for customers to decide.
“Operating a water organisation is always about finding the right balance between the levels of service that we provide to our customers, the level of risk that we take on their behalf… and the level of affordability, the level of money that they can afford. Finding this balance between these three aspects is something that we need to discuss with our customers. They need to decide what is good for them.”
Mr Cheroux also apologised at the start of his evidence. “I’ve also witnessed the fact that we are not meeting customers’ expectations in a number of areas, and I do apologise for that.”
Check live fuel prices near you before you set off.
Spotted something? Got a story? Email news (@) deeside.com
NEW: Add Deeside.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Latest News
