New research shows water companies in England & W​ales outperform comparable water sectors in Europe

Water companies in England and Wales perform better than their main European counterparts, according to a new report examining the quality of water and wastewater utilities in six European countries over the past 28 years, based on six key service performance indicators. The report found that the water sector in England and Wales has outperformed those in France, Ireland, Italy and Spain since 1990 in terms of the most important measures on water and sewerage.

In five of the six key performance measures – including water quality, customer service and costs – the English and Welsh water sector is either the top performer or the most improved. In the sixth measure – the quality of sewage treatment – the English and Welsh water sector is the second top performer. The report found that the water sector in Germany delivers a broadly similar quality service to that of England and Wales but does so at greater expense – with prices about 12% higher than in England and Wales.

The report concludes that there is a strong case for stating that the water system in England and Wales delivers the best value for money of all the utility sectors in the study, and that the model has driven up standards and reduced overall costs.

The report International Comparisons of Water Sector Performance, sets out the following six key areas it was felt there was enough data to make meaningful comparisons between the service in the different countries.

  • Water compliance – how good is the water that comes out of the taps
  • The quality of wastewater treatment
  • Customer service
  • Non-revenue water – the amount of water ‘lost’ in the system through leakage, faulty meters or unauthorised use
  • The charge of water and wastewater to customers
  • The total cost to run the service per person

More than 220 sources were examined for the report, which was commissioned by Water UK, the organisation which represents all the UK water companies. Commenting on the new study, Water UK Chief Executive Michael Roberts said:

“This research shows how well private water companies in England and Wales compare with some of their European counterparts, reflecting the benefits of £150 billion investment over nearly thirty years. The water industry has come a long way since privatisation in 1989, and customers are now five times less likely to have interrupted water supplies, eight times less likely to suffer sewer flooding, and 100 times less likely to have low water pressure. The business plans that companies have put forward for 2020 to 2025 propose an extra £50 billion of investment, which would see the service improved even further.”

Click here to access the report

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