Welsh Water customers from around Herefordshire can influence how tens of millions of pounds of investment should be spent – as a national roadshow rolls into the county.

Welsh Water, which is a not-for-profit company with no shareholders, has invited its three million customers to give their thoughts on how they spend extra investment next year, as part of its pioneering Have Your Say campaign.

Its Chief Executive encouraged as many customers in Herefordshire as possible to have their say ahead of a roadshow in Hereford on Wednesday, 7 September, which will take place in High Town in the city between 10am and 4pm.

Representatives from the company, which supplies water and sewerage services to almost all of Wales and Herefordshire, will be on hand to support customers to fill out the five-minute survey - with each customer taking part to get one of its iconic blue water bottles free.

Customers who can’t make it to the event can still take part by going to our website dwrcymru.com and taking part in a two-minute, interactive consultation.

It comes after Welsh Water became the first UK utility company to give its customers the chance to influence how it spends any money it makes.

The 10-week consultation - which runs until 19 September - gives customers the chance, through the Welsh Water website, to help the company’s Board prioritise how any financial gains – projected to be around £30 million a year – made next year should be split by choosing from a range of options which include:

• Money off their water and sewerage bills

• Extra help for people who struggle to pay their bills

• Investing more in our pipes, pumps and water treatment works to continue providing high-quality services

• Investing now to help save money in the future through renewable energy and innovation

• Supporting educational and recreational projects in our communities

• Speeding up improvements for people who experience repeat problems with their services

As the company is not-for-profit, it doesn’t have shareholders and any returns it makes are reinvested back in the business in a unique setup for the water sector.

The company also took the rare step of producing radio and television adverts to promote the exercise, which starred Welsh Water staff from across the country.

Chief Executive Chris Jones said he wanted people from all around Herefordshire to attend the roadshow so the Board had a clear message about customers’ views.

He said: “This is an unparalleled move to give a real say over how we spend any returns we achieve - and reflects how our not-for-profit status is rooted in working with customers and for customers.

“As we do not have any shareholders, we reinvest money in our network, support our customers and embed innovation to keep our service modern, efficient and at an affordable price. As a company, we are at our best when we are working together with customers to improve all aspects of our work – and that involves genuinely listening to what they think we should be doing to improve our service.

“I hope as many of our customers from Herefordshire take part in this unique opportunity to shape how we operate as possible – it will be crucial in helping us make good decisions for the benefit of our customers now and for future generations.”

Earlier this year, the company announced it was investing an extra £32 million into its services this year, and to help lower-income homes, after it recorded its best year in overall performance since becoming not-for-profit in 2001.