Dwr Cymru Welsh Water has announced the completion of its five-year AMP4 £1.4 billion investment programme which has included a £225 million programme to renew 1,800 kilometres of water mains.

The work carried out, between 2005 and 2010, has delivered increased reliability of the water supply and improved wastewater treatment to benefit tens of thousands of customers and the environment.

Some of the larger schemes have included the £ 16.8 million upgrade to the Talybont Water Treatment Works in the Brecon Beacons in 2009; a £3 million upgrade to the wastewater treatment works at Cross Hands in west Wales in 2007, and a £5 million new waste water treatment works at Amlwch in Anglesey in 2009.

Locally, schemes have included a £150,000 upgrade to the wastewater network at Baglan; a £520,000 investment at Oxwich and a £100,000 investment at Llansamlet to increase the capacity of the wastewater network; a £620,000 upgrade and 120metres of new sewers at Pontardawe; and a £165,000 upgrade in Sketty.

Welsh Water is now beginning a new £1.2 billion programme of work that will deliver further improvements between 2010 and 2015.

Peter Perry, Welsh Water’s Operations Director, said:

“We have completed the work we set out to do five years ago, on target and on budget. This massive spend has seen us working throughout Wales and the border areas of England we serve.

“Welsh Water operates assets valued at £19 billion and we constantly have to extend, upgrade or replace them. Since 2000 we have spent £2.4 billion on modernising the drinking water and sewerage systems, often replacing infrastructure that dates back to the early 1900s. The result is steadily improving quality of services to our customers and a far better river and coastal environment than we had 20 years ago. To illustrate the scale of the work carried out on any day of last year we had more than 200 investment schemes simultaneously underway.

“In 2008 we expanded and brought forward a £200 million investment programme throughout Wales to improve the protection of drinking water quality. A number of schemes have been completed including a £10 million programme of Ultra Violet treatment installations at 23 sites across Wales and major upgrades to our treatment works at Cwellyn and Rhiwgoch in north Wales at a combined cost of £21million. Major construction works has also started on five sites worth £48 million, with a further 19 schemes to be completed by 2015.“However, we’ve a lot more to do over the next five years. We will continue replacing assets such as old water mains and sewers, and ensuring that all our equipment such as pumping and treatment stations are well maintained and working efficiently. We are also working hard to reduce our carbon footprint in a number of ways, including generating our own energy, where possible, from our own assets.”