Thames Water Wastes Water

Thames Water sees a quarter of its total supplies wasted through leaks and burst pipes, despite hitting its Ofwat target to reduce leaks last year.

Thames Water has also been criticised for the amount of time it takes to repair leaks.

Figures obtained show that of 441 recent leaks in its area, just 210 were repaired within the five days promised by Thames Water, while 48 had still not been repaired after 20 days.

In one case Jeremy Gompertz QC reported a leak from a mains pipe into the basement of his flat in Highbury, north London, on nine separate occasions between December last year and February.

“It’s outrageous that when we’re threatened with water restrictions because of drought they can’t be bothered to come and remedy a leak which has been running for two months,” said Mr Gompertz, 41.

Elsewhere John Tamplin, a financial adviser from Henley-on-Thames, had to wait two days before Thames Water dispatched engineers to repair a burst pipe sending water gushing up through the paved drive of his home. The incident came just days after Oxfordshire was declared to be in a state of drought.

Mr Tamplin, 55, said: “I was just amazed that Thames Water could be so wasteful with the water when they are telling us to economise and look after this valuable resource.”

Thames Water has now apologised for the amount of time it takes to visit and repair leaks. A spokesman said: “We fix leaks in order of priority to prevent as much water as possible from being wasted. 

However, we recognise that in some cases the speed we fix leaks isn’t good enough. We are continually working to improve that.”

The firm, which last year made an operating profit of £600 million, pointed out it had cut leakage from its pipes by a third since its peak in 2004 and has invested millions of pounds in repairing leaks in recent years.

Source The Telegraph