Call for more hose bans
But plugging leaks will see bills rise, families warned
MORE hosepipe bans could be on the way thanks to a combination of drought and leaking pipes.
With many rivers already on ‘red alert’ as their levels drop dangerously low, the Environment Agency is understood to be keen for water companies to implement further bans.
But preventing future hosepipe bans will mean higher bills, the infrastructure tsar said yesterday.
Sir John Armitt, chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission, told the Daily Mail the price of new equipment, aimed in part at reducing leaks, would mean costs ‘shared fairly between consumers and investors’. He added: ‘Avoiding severe drought in future means increasing the supply of water as well as cutting leakages from the network.
‘It’s hard to swallow an instruction not to use your hosepipe when you know almost one fifth of water is lost each day through leaking pipes.
‘But the scale of the challenge means fixing leaks alone won’t cut it. We think at least £20billion of investment is needed over the next 30 years not only to reduce leaks but to build new infrastructure like reservoirs and transfer networks.’ Sir John added: ‘While water bills have been falling in recent years, the cost of funding this new infrastructure will need to be shared fairly between consumers and investors.’
He spoke as it emerged that Thames Water – which is threatening a hosepipe ban in the weeks to come – awarded a £496,000 bonus to its chief executive Sarah Bentley. Her salary also rose to £750,000 last year from £438,000, annual accounts show.
The bonus comes as the source of the Thames ran dry and, in a further embarrassment, one of Thames Water’s key weapons during times of drought – a £250million desalination plant – lies idle as it undergoes repairs.
Southern Water has imposed a hose ban in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, South East Water in Kent and Sussex, and Welsh Water in Pembrokeshire – in all covering around 3million people. Rulebreakers could be fined £1,000.
Feargal Sharkey, the former pop singer turned anti-pollution campaigner, blamed water shortages on ‘ decades of underinvestment and mismanagement’.
A Water UK spokesman said: ‘ The National Infrastructure Commission and others are clear that the economic costs of drought are much higher than the investment needed to prevent it.’