Ofwat’s chief executive has said that progress is now being made on leakage but admitted it has not always been treated as a high enough priority.
Rachel Fletcher told a parliamentary select committee on water supply and demand this week that the whole sector is focussing on improving leakage in the current investment cycle as a relatively cheap way to mitigate the water shortage crisis.
Fletcher said leakage had been sidelined until 2016 when it was given more attention but for Ofwat, the subject was now “very, very, very near the top of our agenda”. She said she was pleased to see money being spent on innovation and the technologies needed to drive leakage down.
She said that “everyone took their eye off the ball” on leakage, but four years ago there was a radical change and although progress may have been slow, “the direction of travel now is absolutely clear.”
The sector was set an average reduction target of 16 per cent by 2025 over the current investment cycle, which will be followed in 2030 on the water industry’s own target to triple the rate of leakage reduction as a Public Interest Commitment, and finally by 2050 the National Infrastructure Committee (NIC) has set a goal of halving leakage.
Fletcher said that although the target is ambitious, the companies had three years to prepare for the challenge ahead and were not being set up to fail.
“We have seen some of the better performing companies make those levels of reduction in recent years, so we don’t think it’s unachievable. If a company applies its mind and thinks creatively it can achieve that level of reduction.”
Tamara Finkelstein, permanent secretary at Defra, added that she recognised the department was looking for “big shifts” in leakage, but believed the companies were in a position to meet those targets “and we are going to drive them to meet them”.
James Bevan, chief executive of the Environment Agency, echoed the need to improve the sector’s position on leakage, adding that it feeds into consumers’ willingness to reduce consumption. He said the water companies are well aware that “nothing maddens customers more than leakage,” and that it “absolutely does undermine the use water wisely message”.
Fletcher said a “twin track” approach of repairing leaks and addressing demand management was necessary to ensure all stakeholders were playing a part in future resilience.
“Let’s be clear – fixing leaks and helping customers to use less water are some of the cheaper solutions towards meeting our long-term water resource needs. The twin track approach and paying sufficient attention to the demand side measures is really important and something we all collectively challenge the companies on,” she said.
Bevan added that safeguarding of resources was a joint responsibility that the EA has a duty to, however, the system was being tested “more sternly” now in the long-term water crisis.