WELSH Water has been accused of letting down their customers and the environment down after being named as one of the worst six water companies in the UK.

In the annual report by water regulator Ofwat, the company performed particularly poorly in drinking water standards, water supply interruptions and water quality.

The company also failed to meet its pollution incidents target.

The report reviewed the performance of the 17 largest water and wastewater companies in England and Wales.

Welsh Water, Northumbrian Water, Southern Water, South West Water, Thames Water and Yorkshire Water were named as the worst performing companies.

The firms must now explain what has led to their poor performance and present a clear action plan to turn this around, Ofwat said, as it published its annual assessment of company operational performance and financial resilience.

Most companies had “again failed to clearly explain the link between their dividend decisions and payments with performance delivery for customers”, Ofwat said.

In Wales, over the last two years, there have been 203,071 dumps lasting 1,687,475 hours in Welsh rivers.

Analysis of Environment Agency data by the Welsh Liberal Democrats revealed that Welsh Water has dumped sewage onto Welsh Blue Flag beaches 579 times, lasting an astonishing 6,757 hours.

Over the last two years, executives at Welsh Water have received £2.4 million – including £808,000 in bonuses - despite the poor performance of the company and the fact that it is officially a ‘non-profit’.

Besides a ban on water company bonuses, the Welsh Liberal Democrats called for the Welsh Labour Government to better support Natural Resources Wales and to strengthen legalisation to raise standards for water companies.

They also accused the Conservatives of failing to legislate to prevent sewage dumping or to give Ofwat any real regulatory teeth at a Westminster level.

“These are yet more disappointing results for Welsh Water yet the company has continued to give out large bonuses to its executives despite these poor results, supposedly being a non-profit and the ongoing sewage dumping scandal," said Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader and Mid & West Wales Senedd Member Jane Dodds

“These bonuses that are rewarding failure should be banned immediately and the finances redirected directly into improving infrastructure across the network."

Emma Clancy, chief executive of the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), said: “The cost-of-living crisis means households have enough to worry about without water companies adding to their concerns through poor customer service or the devastation of seeing their home flooded with sewage.

“Water is an essential service that should be reliable, safe and affordable for everyone but some companies are falling short of meeting their customers’ expectations.”

“Many people are irritated by leakage so the industry needs to stretch itself further, with far more focus on tackling visible leaks quickly, while keeping their customers regularly informed of what they are doing and the impact it’s having.”