Jacob Tompkins, managing director of Waterwise, said incentivising water companies to reduce supply would eliminate uncertainty and complexity around targets for water efficiency and leakage.
Phil Burston, senior water policy officer at charity RSPB, agreed that the current system did not do enough to tackle leakage.
“Customers want companies to do more ,” he said. “But it is hard for companies to communicate with their customers that they can’t, due to the terms of their investment plans.
“If companies have done enough to meet their targets, there is no financial gain to go above it.”
However, Ofwat said companies already had incentives to outperform leakage targets. “If become more efficient at controlling leakage, they should be able to maintain secure supplies at lower overall cost,” a spokesman said. The regulator is consulting on proposals for PR14 to strengthen the incentives for companies to deliver outcomes customers want.
Rob Wesley, head of policy at Water UK, cautioned against scrapping leakage targets. However, he said a water-into-supply target could be consistent with Ofwat’s approach to PR14.