Water executive promises to halve leaks... by 2050

Water companies are on track to halve leakages by 2050, an industry chief has declared, as he faced pressure over whether more action was needed to avoid restrictions.

Stuart Colville, director of policy at Water UK, said he "completely understands" frustrations felt by homeowners at seeing leaks when they are asked to cut down on water usage.

It comes as analysis by the Times newspaper found the country’s nine water companies are leaking almost 2.4 billion litres of water every day.

However, Mr Colville insisted current leakage levels were "some of the lowest" on record as he was asked about whether enough was being done to stop wastages.

'Lowest levels of leakage on record'

He told the Today programme: "Figures just in from the regulator show that we're seeing some of the lowest ever levels of leakage on record in England. It's down by over a third since the 1990s and are on track to halve leakage by the middle of the century

"I completely understand people's concern particularly when we're asking people to do their bit and think wisely about how they are using water.

"If you look at comparator with countries like Ireland or Italy our performance on leakage is far better than some of those peer countries and we're overtaking France as well

"I completely understand that people want leakage to come down and fast. We have made swift progress and there's more to do. We will be on track to halve it by 2050."

Mr Colville also said he had spoken to Thames Water after the Telegraph revealed a £250m desalination plant built in East London to protect hundreds of thousands of households from the effects of drought has been switched off.

He said "planned work" had affected the plant in Beckton which was hoped to provide fresh drinking water to up to 400,000 households every day.

It comes as water firms planning to introduce restrictions have been besieged by homeowners with complaints about leaks in their neighbourhoods.

Companies are coming under increasing pressure to improve its record on leaks, which amount to 2.4bn litres a year, as they ask people to cut down on water usage to help the environment.

From tomorrow residents across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight will become the first to be subject of a hosepipe ban after Southern Water announced restrictions.

South East water became the second water company to bring in a ban this week.

The prospect of restrictions has caused outrage from residents who have challenged firms on social media to cut down on pipe and drain leaks.

One Sussex-based resident, who shared an image of surface water on a road, tweeted: "will it be ok if I attach a hose to the leak in the road outside which was reported to you last week and use that to water the garden with?"

"It's a shame to see it running down the drain," they quipped.

A Southern Water customer, whose name is Jane, posted footage of a severe leak in Tunbridge Wells outside her brother's house, with water pouring from the pavement into the road.

She said he had reported the problem to the company on Tuesday but had heard "nothing" so far, adding, "you'll no doubt enforce a hosepipe ban soon, but how about you fix leaks when your customers ask for help".

Another customer accused Southern Water of “losing millions of gallons of water a day due to leaks in their pipes” adding that they were now being banned from watering their little “bit of grass”.

They said they saved water in “so many ways” and loved and enjoyed their garden.

Elaine Underwood described the ban as “hilarious” as she posted a deluge of water streaming out of a leak in her garden in the Isle of Wight.

Thames Water has also warned Londoners could be subject to restrictions as a result of the dry temperatures, prompting one frustrated customer to say that as a ban was being considered, “when are you fixing the leak in my road?” adding that the leak had been there for 5 weeks.

“Get your own house in order before dictating what happens in mine,” they said.

However, Anglian Water has ruled out a hosepipe ban despite low rainfall in the east of the country.