'Vampiric' water companies fail to ensure supply during drought amid huge pipe leaks

Some water companies would not have enough supply available to meet demand if there had been a drought, the Environment Agency has said.

It flagged that while the wet winter and summer of 2023/24 mean there were no drought-related supply issues, some companies still reported they did not have enough water if there had been a drought.

James Wallace, CEO of River Action said, “Water is the lifeblood of our economy.  Everything from growing crops and healthy people to cooling IT hubs and factories relies on abundant clean water. Instead of treasuring every drop, vampiric water companies suck money out of their customers while wasting billions of litres of our most precious resource.

"Despite heavy rains and decades of warning, they cannot even guarantee drinking water during a drought and threaten not just our livelihoods but our lives. That’s why thousands will join the March for Clean Water in London on November 3rd to ask the Government to make water companies fix their leaky infrastructure and enforce the law.”

Around 1,695.9mm of rain fell from October 2022 to March 2024.

This is the highest amount of rain for any 18-month period in England since the organisation began collecting comparable data back in 1836.

The EA's report said leakage from water pipe networks “remains too high”, with 19% of water put into supplies being lost.

Thames Water and United Utilities were the worst companies for leaks on a per-person basis, the report said.

The agency’s chairman Alan Lovell said: “In the face of the enormous challenges on water resources, we have to tackle both sides of the equation – reducing demand and increasing supply.

“While we’ve seen some progress by companies, it’s clear that more planning, resources and investment are needed, particularly on leakage.

“We expect water companies to accelerate their plans to increase water efficiency, reduce leakage and prepare for future droughts.

“We will continue to work closely with Ofwat and Defra to hold water companies accountable and ensure they deliver on their commitments to protect our environment and secure our water supply for future generations.”

Some water companies were behind on their programmes to install water meters, and more work is needed on demand reduction.

Approximately half of the water companies in England will receive a joint regulatory letter from the Environment Agency and Ofwat outlining specific failings and necessary actions for improvement, they were warned.

A spokesman for industry body Water UK said: “With much of our network over 100 years old, water companies have worked hard to deliver the lowest level of leakage ever recorded.
“We have a plan to reduce leakage by a third by the end of the decade, but the regulator Ofwat has put this at risk by proposing to cut investment in our water infrastructure by £17 billion.
“If we want to lose less water to leakage, we will need Ofwat to reconsider its plans.”