Drought of order!
460MILLION litres of water lost to leaks every day...as they lecture YOU to save supplies and issue doom-laden warnings of shortages
SCOTLAND is losing almost 460 million litres of water every day through leaks, amid new warnings that water levels in some areas are at ‘critical’ levels.
Scottish Water’s most recent annual report shows 459 million litres of water – equivalent to more than 180 Olympic-size swimming pools – were lost each day last year.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has placed some areas on the highest alert for water scarcity. Mid and north Fife are said to be suffering ‘significant’ water scarcity, with parts of the Tweed catchment area ‘counting down’ to a similar level.
The situation looks unlikely to improve with dry weather and temperatures of 30C (86F) forecast this week.
Water services are provided by Scottish Water, a publicly owned firm answerable to ministers. It has faced criticism for awarding bosses almost £227,000 in bonuses in one year while Scots struggle with the cost of living crisis.
Chief executive Duncan Millican was handed a £92,000 bonus for a single year’s work in 2021 on top of his £267,000 salary. Chief operating officer Peter Farrer picked up £68,000 on top of his £197,000 salary, while strategy and commercial director Alan Scott’s bonus was £67,000 on top of his £195,000 salary.
At the same time, it is planning a price hike of at least 12 per cent.
Brian Whittle, Scottish Conservative environment spokesman, said Scots are ‘being let down by poor infrastructure’.
He added: ‘A failure to invest enough in the water network over many years means we’re losing almost half a billion litres of water every day to leaks.’
Joe Ventre, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘With a drought looming and the cost of utilities soaring, hard-pressed households will be right to ask why no significant improvements have been made to cut down on leakage.’
Responding to criticism of the bonuses paid to its executives while raising charges, a spokesman for Scottish Water said: ‘Executive pay and performance incentives are in line with arrangements approved by the Scottish Water board and the Scottish Government. The package for the chief executive is significantly lower than that of water company chief executives elsewhere in the UK water industry sector.’
Average reservoir levels across Scotland were at 99 per cent in March before falling to 91 per cent in May and are now at 80 per cent. However, those in the east and south are below this.
The red alert means Sepa can suspend business licences for abstracting water in line with the National Water Scarcity Plan. Agricultural businesses, distilleries and golf courses are most likely to be hit. Sepa bosses confirmed they will meet farmers to discuss measures next week.
An area is moved to a ‘significant’ water scarcity when average river flows in the region have remained ‘exceptionally low’ for more than 30 consecutive days.
A request for a Water Shortage Order, needed for a hosepipe ban, has to be approved by a Government minister. The last time an order was granted was in 1995.
Scottish Water said it has no plans for hosepipe bans. A spokesman added: ‘Our leakage level last year was 459 million litres per day, a reduction of more than 50 per cent in leakage from 1,100 million litres per day in 2006 and an alltime low.’
‘No significant improvements’