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Product category: General insurance
News Release from: uSwitch | Subject: Insurance
Edited by the Insidemoneytalk Editorial Team on 13 August 2007

The water industry stems the tide as
leakage figures finally fall

Severn Trent Water is the only company to miss its leakage targets in 2007

Amount of water lost per day is reduced by 160 million litres or enough for 1 million domestic customers' use But..

water companies are still hemorrhaging 3.4billion litres per day, enough to meet the daily needs of 21 million domestic customers.

Despite leakage failures Severn Trent customers will see their bills reduced by just £4 in 2008 - 09.

Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, the independent price comparison and switching service, comments: "Ofwat deserves credit for beginning to mop up an industry that has underperformed for a number of years".

"While we have seen water losses stemmed by 160 million litres a day - and this is a step in the right direction - it has to be remembered that this is merely a drop in the ocean when compared to the ongoing daily leakage from the UK's antiquated water systems".

""Severn Trent continues to be the bad egg of the water industry - its leakage targets were missed by over 8 million litres per day.

Its customers can be pleased that Ofwat has demanded that it commits £45million of shareholders' money to reduce leaks further over the next three years.

But consumers will be less than impressed with the miserly £4 reduction in bills in 2008 - 09.

This reduction is little more than tokenism and reflects just 1.5% off the average bill.

Let's not forget that water bills have already risen by an average of 7% in 2007".

""Severn Trent needs to reduce its leakage by 25 million litres per day by 2009-10 if it is to meet Ofwat's targets - judging by today's figures it will fall far short unless urgent improvement is made".

"All other water companies have managed to stem the flow so why can't they? "Last summer's droughts and this year's floods have emphasised what a precarious state the water industry is in.

The fact that the UK is still losing 3.4 billion[10] litres of water each and every day indicates that there is no room for complacency.

In no other industry would wastage on this scale be acceptable - the water industry must now shake off its poor track record, roll up its sleeves and seriously get to work".

""In the meantime, despite the current over abundance of water and the wilful wastage of suppliers, households still need to treat water as a precious commodity and seek to preserve it".

"Water efficiency must remain high on the consumer agenda." To help consumers with their water efficiency uSwitch.com introduced a water calculator on its site in February 2005.

In its first year, the uSwitch.com water calculator helped over 50,000 users save money on their water bills by switching to a meter or implementing water saving devices or measures.

Customers could save ?125 a year by switching to a water meter.

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