Three articles Ofwat fines Thames over leakage, United Utilities cancel their hosepipe ban and Yorkshire focus on leakage detection to meet future demand. The heatwave and drought has drawn the spotlight of publicity and attention on the water companies.
Ofwat confirms £120m package of payments and penalties for Thames Water following leakage failures
Following consultation, Ofwat has today confirmed that Thames Water will pay £65 million back to its customers as part of a total package of payments and penalties worth £120 million.
This follows an Ofwat investigation into Thames’ failure to meet commitments it made to its customers to tackle leakage. As part of the investigation, Ofwat found that Thames Water’s Board did not pay enough attention to reducing leakage and underestimated its legal responsibility for oversight of its leakage operations and the responsibilities of its Board.
Ofwat said it had also found that Thames’ Board provided the regulator with assurances about being able to meet its legal obligations, but “it transpired these assurances were not based on solid information.”
United Utilities calls off summer hosepipe ban in England
The temporary ban by United Utilities (UU) was due to start in the North West on Sunday to “safeguard essential supplies”.
But recent rainfall, cooler temperatures and a reduction in water usage have led to it being lifted.
UU has warned that it may still need to introduce a ban at a later stage if the dry weather continues.
Martin Padley thanked customers for conserving water and said the company did not “want to inconvenience customers unnecessarily at this time”.
“Our leakage teams are working 24 hours a day to find and repair as many leaks as possible and we have been moving water around our network,” he said. Mr Padley urged UU customers to continue taking steps to save water in their homes and gardens. Robert Light, from the Consumer Council for Water, said: “Consumers deserve great credit for the way they’ve responded to the call to use water wisely.” Earlier this month UU, which supplies about 3.2 million properties, said it was moving water from Wales to boost depleted supplies across north-west England.
The first half of the summer in the UK has been the driest since 1961, UU said.
The company’s drought plan says its “minimum level of service” permits bans no more than once in 20 years, on average. It last imposed a ban in 2010 and the called off ban would have been the third in the company’s 23-year history. Last year, the water regulator handed the company an £8m “underperformance” penalty.
Yorkshire Water’s chosen solution to close supply-demand deficit is to reduce demand via increased leakage detection
Yorkshire Water has said its chosen solution to close the supply-demand deficit projected in its current Water Resource Management Plan (WRMP19) which forecasts supply and demand from 2020 to 2045 is to reduce demand through increased leakage detection and repair activity.
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