English water companies have outlined how they intend to triple the rate of leakage reduction by 2030 and halve leakage from current levels by 2050 to meet the sector’s shared commitments.
In a new routemap, coordinated by Water UK, they identified four requirements for progress:
- Greater collaboration within and between the industry and its supply chain to share experiences, as well as increased investment in innovation.
- A step-change in the replacement rates of old pipes to tackle background leakage. The plan called on regulators to support the replacement of old leaky pipes at a rate closer to European levels to meet the 2050 goal.
- Increased support from regulators and government to prioritise innovation and investment in this area.
- Greater collaboration with local authorities and highways agencies given the amount of underground work that will be required in the coming decade.
During the first year of the current asset management period (AMP7), four companies missed their leakage reduction targets but overall rates across England fell by 37Ml per day between 2019/20 and 2020/21 to 3,113Ml.
Water UK chief executive Christine McGourty said: “Leakage rates may be as low as they’ve ever been, but we are still losing the equivalent of 1,245 Olympic swimming pools per day. Maintaining recent progress will be possible only with determination, collaboration and support from the supply chain, government and regulators. That is how we build a water network fit for the next century and beyond.”
Water UK said lowering leakage will require novel technology and innovation including the installation of acoustic sensors and loggers throughout companies’ networks to detect and fix leaks.
Peter Simpson, Anglian’s chief executive and co-champion of the routemap, said: “As a sector we’ve already reduced leakage to the lowest levels on record. But we need to go even further, and even faster. And in the face of accelerating climate change and rapid population growth, the interventions we will make through the routemap have never been more needed.”
Bob Taylor, chief executive at Portsmouth Water added that the challenge to further cut leakage was getting harder as levels are lowered: “Significantly reducing leakage is a crucial step in ensuring we have enough water to keep our country’s taps running and rivers flowing, both now and in the future,” he said. “Most customers today are mindful of their own personal water usage, and it is vital that water companies play our part too.”
The routemap was designed to help companies with leakage business cases by assessing the costs and benefits of various approaches and indicating where more work is required in terms of innovation and technological step changes. It acknowledged that all companies have different starting points due to geographical differences, current rates of leakage and progress against AMP7 targets.
Given the need to respond to the effects of climate change, the routemap provides an adaptive pathway to help companies forecast, plan and cost options that will be included in their PR24 business plans and their water resource management plans in 2024.
The document highlighted a number of key interventions: improved active leakage control – the process of finding leaks in a proactive manner; optimum pressure managed networks; improved repair techniques; smart metering and advanced data analytics; smart networks, including new sensors with advanced analytics; progressive pipe rehabilitation; adoption of customer supply pipes; and supply pipe replacement.
Although it assessed the cost and benefits of these interventions in various scenarios, Water UK said the modelling indicated there is no single clear route to achieving leakage reduction goals due to variables such technological developments and innovations and the regional challenges faced by companies starting from different positions.
The 2030 target to triple the rate of sector-wide leakage reduction was set out in the 2019 Public Interest Commitment, while the 2050 challenge laid down by the National Infrastructure Committee (NIC) to halve leakage from 2018 levels by 2050 was in the NIC’s Preparing for a Drier Future report.