From Public Accounts Committee

In a report published today, Thursday 9 July 2020, the Public Accounts Committee says all the bodies responsible for the UK’s water supply – Defra, Ofwat and the Environment Agency – have “taken their eye off the ball” and must take urgent action now to ensure a reliable water supply in the years ahead. It concludes that the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) has shown a lack of leadership in getting to grips with all of the issues threatening our water supply.

There is a serious risk that some parts of England will run out of water within the next 20 years. Over 3 billion litres, a fifth of the volume used, is lost to leakage every day: a situation the Committee describes as “wholly unacceptable”.

The report says Government has failed to be clear with water companies, privatised in 1989, on how they should balance investment in infrastructure with reducing customer bills, and says “ponderous” water companies have made “no progress” in reducing leakage over the last 20 years.

The committee calls for Defra to produce annual performance league tables for water companies; step up on promoting water efficiency and deliver an effective campaign for water saving.

Industry action has failed, says the committee and government needs to step in and substantially step up efforts to coordinate increased awareness of the need to save water.

Read more and access the reports here

Also covered by the BBC and in the Guardian

Read Defra’s response here, focusing on the National Framework for Water Resources (launched on 16 March 2020), which “brings together industry, regulators and government to transform the way we use and look after our water supplies. The framework sets out how we will reduce demand, halve leakage rates, develop new supplies, move water to where it’s needed and reduce the need for drought measures that can harm the environment.”

A new UK wide water saving campaign “Water’s Worth Saving” was launched on Monday 13th July, jointly run by Waterwise and Water UK. The campaign aims to help customers understand the need to save water and the simple steps they can take to reduce their water use.  This will run from July – September across a number of different social media channels.

A Tory MP and chair of the environmental audit committee is seeking in a private member’s bill to place a duty on water companies to ensure untreated sewage is not discharged into rivers and inland waterways. If successful, this would have huge implications for our drainage infrastructure and for water companies.

Read more here.