Guardian ‘Thames CEO fired. A source said the Thames board and employees were embarrassed by being singled out by the regulator Ofwat as one of the country’s worst water companies. It had the worst record on leaks in 2017-18. Earlier this year, the watchdog ordered Thames to “substantially rework and resubmit” its “unconvincing” plans to tackle leakage and reduce customers bills.  ………   Ofwat fined Thames £120m last year for poor management of leaks and said the company had “failed its customers” as it breached two of its legal responsibilities.’

Meanwhile this text from the Global leakage summit (June 25^th) sets the tone for the current debate 

A Water Industry under pressure – A learning outcome

Bob Taylor, CEO, Portsmouth Water, UK

‘Leakage is right at the top of the UK’s political agenda again and the UK Water Industry has taken a pounding over the last two years – continuous pressure to meet regulatory targets, media stories on renationalisation, ‘fat cat’ salaries, customer leakage and customer expectations/perceptions: ‘We expect customers to waste less, they expect water companies to waste less’ (Waterwise).

Extremes of weather have also taken their toll – the ‘Beast from the East’ in March 2018 led to frozen pipes and the subsequent bursts and water shortages. The customer-focused ‘Freeze-Thaw Report’ from CC Water followed, asking companies to explain the extent of their preparedness, and how they coped with customer complaints. Then came a long hot summer, causing water use restrictions in parts of the UK. Another dry winter could lead to another drought in 2019.’

09.15 Opening Keynote: Climate Change and Unusual Weather Patterns – Operational Responses to Meet the Challenges and Improve Customer Relations

Richard Flint, Chief Executive, Yorkshire Water, UK 

09.30 Understanding Regulatory Drivers – The UK Policy Makers’ View

• Ofwat is leading an initiative to make companies reduce leakage by 15% by 2025 – is that enough? The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) is going even further, suggesting that leakage is halved by 2050
• Does this mean that the sustainable economic level of leakage (SELL) is now ‘dead in the water’ and leakage has to come down at any cost?
• What level of infrastructure investment is needed to complement improvements to network operations and technology development?
• The challenges facing the south-east of England over the next 50 years are particularly severe. The Water Resources in the South East group (WRSE) is an alliance of the six south east water companies and the regulators. What are their long term plans for securing water supplies in the south east of England?
• Would a change of government and possible re-nationalisation of the UK Water Industry be better or worse for managing leakage?