Inexcusable!

That’s the verdict on water firms’ failures that let taps run dry after Beast from East

WATER companies have been criticised for ‘inexcusable failures’ when the taps ran dry after pipe bursts caused by the beast from the East.

Hundreds of thousands were left without water for hours and many schools, nurseries and businesses, including pubs and restaurants, had to shut.

millions of householders across the South were asked to ration supplies to maintain water pressure in the system.

A report published by industry regulator ofwat today paints a damning picture of firms utterly unprepared for the impact of the freeze on pipes.

It also highlights the need to increase the pitiful compensation available to families and firms who lose water supplies.

rachel Fletcher of ofwat said: ‘The freeze and rapid thaw earlier this year was forecast and not unprecedented. Too many companies were caught off guard and let people down, causing real hardship. our report shows there is no excuse for this level of failure.’

The ofwat investigation found that four companies – Thames Water, Severn Trent, Southern Water and South East Water – were guilty of a string of failures in march this year.

Some 200,000 homes and businesses were left without water for at least four hours.

Another 60,000 properties had no running water for more than 12 hours – affecting more than 100,000 people.

The regulator said that, despite clear warnings, firms did not do enough to prepare, such as storing enough extra water to pump into the pipes to cope with bursts.

Some did not have real-time information on the location of bursts, meaning repairs were delayed. Firms let customers down by failing to provide emergency bottled water and did not communicate with the public properly about when supplies would be restored.

Thousands of people who appear on lists of vulnerable customers, perhaps because they are elderly or disabled, were not offered help.

Now ofwat has announced a review of the compensation offered by water companies when the taps run dry.

Current rules state that households must be without water for at least 12 hours before they get just £20. However, if the cause is the failure of a major mains pipe, customers get nothing until they have had no running water for at least 48 hours. back in march water firms claimed the problems were caused by an ‘unprecedented’ freeze and thaw.

but ofwat said: ‘Companies’ performance was not directly linked to the severity of the weather. The impact on customers...depended to a large extent on factors within the companies’ control, such as the quality of their plans for handling major incidents.

‘Some companies, such as Severn Trent Water and Thames Water, did not have appropriate plans in place.’

The four worst firms have been told to draw up action plans to address the problems identified by ofwat.

The Consumer Council for Water said the firms should be hit with substantial fines if they do not take steps to prevent a similar crisis.

Water UK, the industry trade body, apologised for the failures of some of its members. It added: ‘We are determined to prevent this happening again.’

Severn Trent said it accepted ofwat’s findings and that it had already announced a ‘significant programme of investment’.

Thames Water said it had compensated customers above the legal minimum and that it would work with ofwat to avoid future disruption.