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Although there have been no hosepipe bans over the last few summers, some water companies in England and Wales still have more to do to reduce the risk of supply restrictions during prolonged dry periods, an Ofwat report revealed today. The 'Security of supply, leakage and the efficient use of water 2003-04' report assesses each company's ability to supply its customers in dry years without imposing demand restrictions. The report shows, for example, that three companies in the south-east of England, Southern Water, Folkestone and Dover Water and Thames Water, need to invest heavily to ensure the continuing reliability of future supplies. The price limits recently announced by Ofwat will enable water companies who face these problems to carry out a substantial programme of investment of nearly £1.3 billion to safeguard future water supplies. Ofwat expects that by 2010 the deficits between the amount of water that companies have available to supply and their expected needs will be largely eliminated. The Security of supply report also confirmed new leakage targets for the next five years that will see water companies in England and Wales reduce total water losses by more than 300 million litres a day - enough to supply the average daily needs of two million people. Bill Emery, chief engineer and director of costs and performance at Ofwat, said: "The water companies have made great strides over the last decade in reducing water losses and the majority are now meeting their economic leakage targets. "As part of Ofwat's recent decision on price limits, each company will be able to maintain, and where necessary improve, its security of supply through the development of new or improved water resources, better management of leakage and further work to promote efficient use of water by its customers. This will minimise the cost to both customers and the environment over the long term." The biggest cut in leakage of 180 megalitres (million litres) a day – around 20 per cent of its current water losses – will be made by Thames Water. Achieving this target will bring its performance into line with the rest of the industry. Leakage at Thames Water has now stabilised after three years of rises. The company has had a long-standing problem with losses of water from its network of pipes, and Ofwat's new price limits will enable it to renew around 1,400km of mains in London. Other big leakage reduction targets have been approved for Dŵr Cymru (15 per cent), Mid Kent (seven per cent), Northumbrian Water (six per cent) and Folkestone and Dover (five per cent). In each case economic analysis has shown that further leakage reductions will be cost effective. Following two years of rising leakage at United Utilities, Ofwat is requiring extra progress reports on the work the company is undertaking to reduce its level of water loss. Ofwat expects to see rapid progress from United Utilities to rectify its position quickly and meet its leakage targets. The amount of water lost from the supply networks of water companies in England and Wales remained stable in 2003-04, after two previous years of rising leakage largely driven by the problems at Thames Water. Most water companies are now operating close to their economic level of leakage – where making further reductions would be more expensive than developing new water sources or managing customer demand. Notes to Editors: 1. The Director General of Water Services is the economic regulator of the water and sewerage companies in England and Wales. He exercises his powers in a way that he judges will allow them to carry out their functions properly, and finance them. 2. The new five year targets for each of the 22 water companies are contained in the "Security of supply, leakage and the efficient use of water 2003-04" report which is published today. This will be available on the Ofwat website www.ofwat.gov.uk or from the Ofwat library on 0121 625 1373. 3. A table of leakage targets up to 2009-10 by individual water company is attached. 4. Ml/d = Megalitres per day. A megalitre is the equivalent of one million litres. It would take 2.5 megalitres of water to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool. 5. The action plan agreed with Thames Water to reduce its reported level of leakage is set out in appendix 4 of the Ofwat report, "Security of supply, leakage and the efficient use of water 2003-04, published today. This is available on Ofwat website's on www.ofwat.gov.uk or from the Ofwat library on 0121 625 1373. 6. Details of the capital expenditure to maintain the balance between supply and demand can be found on p182 of the document, 'Future water and sewerage charges 2005-10 – Final determinations'. This is available on Ofwat's website. 7. The level of water losses has been reduced by nearly a third – around 1,500 megalitres per day - from the recorded peak in 1994-95, with the savings enough to supply the average daily needs of almost ten million people – the combined populations of London, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Bristol and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. MEDIA ENQUIRIES TO OFWAT PRESS OFFICE ON: 0121 625 1416/1496/1442 Out of hours enquiries to pager: 08700 555 500 water 503/509. Ofwat publications and press notices can be found on Ofwat's website at: www.ofwat.gov.uk Leakage targets Ml/d(1) for 2005-10
(1) With regards to rounding, the following rules have been followed: Performance and targets less than 20 Ml/d are given to one decimal place; less than 100 Ml/d are given to 0 places; and greater than 100 Ml/d are rounded to the nearest 5 Ml/d. Leakage performance Ml/d 2002-04
(1) For presentational purposes the following rules have been followed. Figures less than 20Ml/d are given to 1 decimal place; less than 100Ml/d are given to 0 decimal places; and greater than 100Ml/d are rounded to the nearest 5Ml/d. (2) A number of companies have reported leakage figures for 2003-04 using Census 2001 population data for the first time. If the 2002-03 leakage figures were calculated using the same population data as for 2003-04 then leakage in those years would be estimated at a higher level and reveal a stable trend over the two years. This affects particularly the figures for Anglian Water and Northumbrian Water and the total industry figure.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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