Leakage levels drop but ‘more must be done’

Leakage levels across the water industry have fallen by 1.4 per cent in the last year, reversing the upward trend of the previous four years. However, water companies must do more to improve.

Despite this slight decrease water companies can still do much more to reduce the 121 litres of water that is wasted through leakage on average per household each day, said the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) in a new report.

“Leakage is a key concern for customers and can have a big impact on customers’ motivation to save water, as well as their perception of water companies,” the report – Delving into Water – said.

“Whilst there has been 1.4 per cent decrease this year, it remains above the baseline of 2010/11. However, all companies have met the leakage performance commitments set out at the 2014 price review. We continue to question whether these targets are challenging enough.”

The largest reductions in leakage were made by Bournemouth Water (-6 per cent) and Anglian Water (-5 per cent). CCWater challenged the rest of the industry to “make a step change in tackling leakage” so they can meet customers’ expectations.

Meanwhile, the greatest increases were seen for Hartlepool Water (+8.9 per cent), which also had the second largest increase in 2014/15, and Southern Water (+2.4 per cent).

Company actual leakage levels (mega litres per day)

Source: Consumer Council for Water

The report looked at other areas, including dealing with complaints; interruptions to supply; sewer flooding; customer assistance schemes; metering; daily water consumption and drinking water quality.

It found that, although consumers have high levels of satisfaction with many aspects of their water and sewerage services, 10 companies reported an increase in written complaints in 2015/16.

For the fourth consecutive year, Southern was the worst-performing company, having received 77 complaints per 10,000 connections. “This is more than twice the industry average, and the gap between Southern and the rest of the industry is widening,” CCWater warned. “The company has a lot of work to do to close that gap. We expect the company to do so.”

The consumer watchdog’s chief executive Tony Smith said: “Water compares very favourably to most other utilities when you see consumer satisfaction with value for money at a five-year high and complaints at their lowest level for eight years.

“But leakage remains an important issue for consumers and it can dampen their own motivation to save water if they think their water company is not pulling its weight. With pressure continuing to mount on our water resources, some water companies need to show more ambition in beating – not just meeting – their leakage targets.”

Number of written complaints to water companies per 10,000 connections

Source: Consumer Council for Water