As pressure on water supplies increase due to population growth, climate change, and the need to protect the environment, wider measures to manage leakage need to be deployed. CIWEM’s new statement outlines the key issues for both customers and the environment: performance measures, economic considerations and new technological developments.

Visibility of some leaks and coverage in the UK media has raised the profile of leakage in the public eye, resulting in increased pressure on water companies to react. Substantial reductions in leakage have been made by water companies since 1995 in England and Wales, and 2006 in Scotland. Targets set in 2013/14 in Northern Ireland were outperformed.

CIWEM advises that the role of future leakage reduction in securing reliable water supplies may be over-played in some parts of the UK. It is essential that the cost effectiveness of leakage reduction is clearly understood by customers in addition to the effective communication of the measurement of leakage performance and transparency around how leakage targets are set and expressed.

Zero leakage is not technically realistic or economically desirable. Nevertheless, CIWEM believes that more data on leakage levels should be made public and shared so that best practice in managing leakage can be effectively promoted. To read more go to:

http://www.ciwem.org/media/1640016/Water%20distribution%20network%20leakage%20in%20the%20UK.pdf