Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
Mayor slams firm for water leaks
SADIQ Khan has hit out at water giant Thames Water for preparing to demand a hosepipe ban while being responsible for billions of litres lost to leaks every year.
The water company, which supplies 76 per cent London’s water – coming to about 6.75 million people and 2.7 million homes – plan to announce a hosepipe ban “in the coming weeks”, to prepare for a longterm forecast of dry weather and hot temperatures.
Thames Water is England’s largest water company and loses more than 600 million litres of water a day in leaks, based on a three-year average. The firm, which serves areas including Greater London, the Thames Valley, Surrey and Gloucestershire, said it loses 24 per cent of its supply to leaks. Boss Sarah Bentley was paid £3.2 million in the past two years.
Asked for his views on the mooted hosepipe ban in the capital, Mr Khan told MyLondon: “I think it’s really important that Thames Water – and the other water companies – address the issue of leakages. It’s unacceptable that we’ve got to a situation where there are so many leaks taking place which means so much water is being wasted.
“The reality is we’ve had a very dry period, our water reservoirs are lower than they should be.” Thames Water said it meets its annual target for tackling leaks but more work needs to be done.
Severn Trent Water has asked customers in particular areas to refrain from using sprinklers, jet washers and hoses
The mayor added: “We’re in regular contact with Thames Water and the other water agencies. I’m afraid the bad news is that a hose pipe ban may be coming. There’s nothing to stop us in the meantime being prudent and frugal with the water we have in relation to how we use water. All of us should accept some personal responsibility- and at the same time be lobbying Thames Water and others to make sure they are more responsible about some of the things they should be doing to address these issues.”
Thames Water is understood to supply 76 per cent of population in London, which comes to about 6.75 million people and 2.7 million homes.
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We know it’s not acceptable to be losing so much precious water but we’re doing something about it and our shareholders have recently approved an additional £2billion into the business so we can improve outcomes for customers, leakage and river health. It’s not going to be quick, but we’re making progress and we’ve met our target to reduce leakage for the last three years, reducing the amount of water lost by 10.2% since 2019/20. Our aim is to reduce our leakage by 20.4% between 2020 and 2025 and in 2021/22 we fixed over 60,000 leaks. That’s almost 1,200 on average every week.”
Earlier this week, a Thames Water spokesperson said they were going to call for a ‘temporary use ban’ in the coming weeks, adding: “Given the long term forecast of dry weather and another forecast of very hot temperatures coming this week we are planning to announce a temporary use ban in the coming weeks.
“We have written to the Environment Agency to update them on our approach and informed Ofwat.”