Water companies with hosepipe bans leaking over one billion litres of water a day

EMBARGO: 2230 Monday 28th July

• The four water companies with hosepipe bans in place are leaking an average of 1.068 billion litres of water a day
• Equivalent to 400 olympic sized swimming pools a day being lost to leakages at firms with hosepipe bans
• Lib Dems demand water bosses at companies with hosepipe bans give up their bonuses and eye-watering salary increases

The four water companies with hosepipe bans in place are leaking over one billion litres of water per day, analysis of the latest figures by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

The party’s Environment Spokesperson Tim Farron said it was a “scandal” and called for water company bosses to forgo their bonuses and big salary increases while hosepipe bans are in place in light of these failures to invest in infrastructure

Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, Southern Water and South East Water have all issued widespread hosepipe bans due to water shortages, leaving millions of customers without water for their gardens this summer. Yet between them, the four water companies are leaking an average of 1.068 billion litres of water a day, enough to fill 400 olympic sized swimming pools.

Water companies are required to measure the average amount of water lost through their network, over a consecutive three year period. Thames Water comes out worst, with their average water leakage amounting to an equivalent of 592 million litres per day. That is enough to keep a hosepipe running for over 75 years.

Yorkshire Water’s average leaks equate to over 275 million litres of water being lost every day, whilst Southern Water lost 104 million and South East Water wasted 97 million. 

Data also shows the shocking water wastage per household. Thames Water on average wastes 146 litres of water per household per day, Yorkshire Water are not far behind wasting 115 litres of water. South East Water waste on average 91 litres of water per household a day, and Southern Water report wasting 89 litres. 

The Chief Executive of Southern Water has seen his total remuneration increase this year, to around £1million, despite the company wasting millions of litres of water a day to leakages. 

The Liberal Democrats have said water company bosses should give up their bonuses and big pay increases while overseeing  sewage pollution and failing to maintain infrastructure. 

The Liberal Democrats were the first party to call for Ofwat to be abolished and replaced with a tougher water regulator in November 2022, a policy adopted by the government earlier this month. The party is now calling on the government to ensure the new water regulator is established as soon as possible and to ban water company bonuses until leaks are fixed and sewage dumping ends. 

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Tim Farron MP said: 

“It is an absolute scandal that families are being told to limit their water use this summer, while these failing water firms are letting over a billion litres a day go to waste through leaky pipes.

“People are doing their bit – watering their gardens less, letting their lawns go brown – but they’re being let down by companies that refuse to get their own house in order.

“The government must step in now with tougher action. Firms that fail to fix leaks should be fined, and water company bosses should be stopped from pocketing eye-watering bonuses and pay rises while billions of litres of water is wasted and sewage is pumped in rivers, lakes and beaches..

“Enough is enough. The public shouldn’t be forced to pay the price for the water companies’ failure.”

ENDS

Notes to editors: 

Reporting on the Southern Water CEO’s remuneration can be found here.

Three year average leakage (million litres per day) This graph shows the three year average of total leakage for each company, in millions of litres of water leaked each day.