Water firms cutting costs by waiting until drought before fixing leaks

2022-08-09

Water firms are cutting costs by ‘waiting until a drought’ before fixing leaks – as customers facing hosepipe bans demand fat cat chiefs don’t earn bonuses until pipes are fixed

As 19million face hosepipe banks, pipes burst in London and Kent yesterday in areas run by Thames Water
Around 2billion gallons of water are wasted in the UK each day – 20 per cent of the country’s entire water use.
Growing calls for the Government to ban bonuses for water company executives until situation improves
England’s water and sewage firm executives earned £48million in 2020 and 2021, figures have revealed

‘Grossly negligent’ water companies were today accused of failing to repair leaks because it is cheaper to let billions of gallons of water drain away each day in a ‘slap in the face’ for millions facing hosepipe bans or already under one this summer.

Experts have slammed suppliers and insisted it is only the current dry spell in the UK that has finally sparked them into action to find and repair pipes as critics demanded the millionaire bosses are denied bonuses until it improves.

Several of the companies who have already imposed bans, including Southern Water and South East Water, have vowed to improve leak detection and repairs in their drought plans.

Currently around 2billion gallons of water are wasted in the UK each day – 20 per cent of the country’s entire water use. Yesterday there were gigantic leaks in north London and north Kent, where huge amounts of water flooded streets, houses and businesses. Thames Water, who run the supply in both areas, is currently urging 15million customers to save water by watering gardens less and taking shorter showers.

Southern Water, which has a hosepipe ban for its 1million customers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, promised that it ‘increase work to find and fix leaks beyond our target’ when a drought is predicted while South East Water, whose ban for 2.2million in Kent and Sussex starts on Friday, has pledged ‘enhanced leakage detection’ in times of prolonged low rainfall.

Hosepipe bans could last until October with no ‘meaningful rainfall’ forecast to arrive anytime soon as temperatures are set to soar to 36C by the end of the week amid a ‘level three’ heat alert across many parts of England.

Alistair Chisholm, of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, said that water firms will try to avoid fixing many pipes because it hits their profits.

He told the Telegraph: ‘There was always this concept called the economic level of leakage. And it was just a kind of a cost benefit analysis as to whether it was worth it to the customer to invest. It’s cheaper to treat up lots of water, and then let it leak away, than it is to actually dig up tons and tons of pipes’.

Lib Dem rural affairs spokesman Tim Farron said: ‘Water companies shouldn’t wait until a crisis to act. It is grossly negligent for them to hold out until a drought to finally up their game on fixing leaks. This is a slap in the face for the millions facing hosepipe bans this month.

‘It is outrageous that whilst millions of people suffer from hosepipe bans, water company execs reward themselves with bonuses despite not even bothering to fix leaks. What on earth have they done to deserve these bonuses?

‘Ministers are letting water firms get away with scandal after scandal. The public are sick of it. It is time someone stood up to these companies and demanded action. That should start with fixing these leaks, and then once and for all ending sewage pumping into waterways.’

The scene at Hornsey Road in Islington, north London where firefighters were dealing with a burst water main that caused flooding of about 4 feet as Thames Water urged customers to save water

The magnificent and bone-dry Greenwich Park in south-east London as much of southern Britain has had little or no rain since late June or early July

A burst water pipe in Warwickshire near Leek Wootton yesterday

Hosepipe bans are already in place with more on the way. Other companies are threatening one

Water bosses should be banned from earning bonuses until they fix mains leaks that waste billions of litres of water daily, critics said last night.

As hosepipe bans are threatened around the country, burst pipes in London and Kent turned roads into rivers and left cars submerged yesterday.

During one of the hottest summers on record, furious residents watched as water cascaded through streets, while homes and businesses were left without supplies in Islington, north London. Homeowners were urged to move to higher ground as more than 70 firefighters battled rapidly rising water levels.

The ‘tsunami’ of water sparked anger at the poor performance of water companies that reward their bosses with fat salaries and bonuses while presiding over creaking infrastructure.

The Met Office has said temperatures are likely to rise into the low to mid-30s in central and southern parts of the UK – but will not be as extreme as the record-breaking heat in July when the thermometer climbed above 40C.

It emerged that hosepipe bans could last until October after the Met Office warned that rivers may not return to healthy levels for months. Forecasters said temperatures were likely to drop after the weekend, but it would be a while before there was ‘meaningful rainfall’.

The Liberal Democrats and The Rivers Trust charity want the Government to ban new bonuses for water company executives until holes in leaking pipes are repaired. About one fifth of all drinking water produced washes away through cracked pipes and reservoirs – some 3.1billion litres of water every day in 2020/21, the regulator Ofwat said.

Water companies have only promised to halve leaks by 2050, despite predictions of a rise in droughts. Last month was the driest July in England since 1935, with just 35 per cent of its average rainfall for the month, while Wales only got 53 per cent.

Analysis of Companies House records by the Lib Dems shows executives at England’s water and sewage firms earned £48million in 2020 and 2021, including £27.6million in bonuses, benefits and incentives.

Southern Water, which brought in a hosepipe ban on Friday, paid its executives £3.4million in bonuses, despite having pumped raw sewage into rivers and failed to fix leaking pipes.

Thames Water, which is threatening to bring in a hosepipe ban, has been caught up in a row about its failure to run a £250million desalination plant designed to deliver up to 100million litres of water a day during droughts. Its executives were paid around £5million despite the failure.

At the weekend, the firm, whose boss Sarah Bentley earned around £1.25million in pay and bonuses last year, asked Londoners to save water by taking shorter showers.

South East Water has brought in a hosepipe ban for some customers in Kent and Sussex and paid its bosses almost £646,000 in bonuses and benefits over the past two years.

Lib Dem rural affairs spokesman Tim Farron said: ‘It is outrageous that whilst millions of people suffer from hosepipe bans, water company execs reward themselves with bonuses despite not even bothering to fix leaks. What on earth have they done to deserve these bonuses?

A view of the Long Walk in Windsor as temperatures reached 35 degrees during the heatwave

Near wall-to-wall sunshine is forecast for this week and temperatures approaching 35C by Friday

Christine Colvin, of The Rivers Trust, said promising to reduce leaks by only 50 per cent by 2050 was ‘ridiculously unambitious’.

She added: ‘What constitutes good performance by water companies?

‘They are really being rewarded for financial performance and their awards are not being linked to environmental performance.’

Around 50 properties were damaged and four people rescued after a 36in main burst in north London.

Emergency services were called to Islington just after 7am yesterday after a 4ft-deep flood washed through Hornsey Road. A member of staff at the Tollington Arms said: ‘Within minutes there was flooding like a tsunami.’

Singer turned water campaigner Feargal Sharkey said of the leak yesterday: ‘That is what decades of underinvestment, profiteering and mismanagement looks like.’ Residents in Winterton-on-Sea, Norfolk, complain that thousands of gallons of water are being wasted while a burst pipe remains unrepaired.

‘Morning, noon and night it’s going down the drain and no one is taking responsibility,’ said resident Colin Jones. ‘They want me to turn the tap off while I’m brushing my teeth, to save water. It’s a joke.’

Essex and Suffolk Water said the burst water pipe was owned by Great Yarmouth Council, adding: ‘We are working with the council as a contractor and aim to have this done as soon as possible. Unfortunately there has been a delay on this occasion and we’re very sorry.’

A leak also flooded a road at Leek Wootton near Warwick yesterday.

Sector body Water UK said the bonuses were linked to performance, and reflected ‘customer and environmental outcomes’, including performance on leaks, adding: ‘We’re seeing the lowest volume of leaks on record, with further steep reductions planned each year this decade.’

The UK Health Security Agency has issued a heat health alert for southern and central England from Tuesday to Saturday, with experts advising people to look out for those who are older or with existing health conditions, and young children.

An Atlantic weather system next week is forecast to result in a 10C fall in temperatures along with an increased chance of rain and thunderstorms. But it is unlikely to be substantial enough to replace water supplies.

Two water companies have already announced hosepipe bans and others have warned they may need to follow suit, following the driest eight months from November to June since 1976, and the driest July on record for parts of southern and eastern England.

Southern Water, which has imposed a ban in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, has applied to the Environment Agency for a six-month ‘drought permit’ to allow it to draw more water from the River Test, The Times reports.

The River Test’s flow had been 2,500 megalitres (Ml) a day in March, but this has now fallen to just 450Ml.

Southern Water has said the flow could fall further this month to 365Ml – hitting the legal limit for removing water.

A spokesperson said: ‘The permit would last six months or until flows have returned to above 500Ml per day for 21 consecutive days.’

The Wessex Water Sutton Bingham Reservoir near Yeovil in Somerset pictured on Monday during another scorching day that saw water levels drop

Two water companies have already announced hosepipe bans and others have warned they may need to follow suit in the coming days. Bingham Reservoir from the air

The Long Walk at Windsor Castle on Monday as temperatures soared again amid safety warnings as another heatwave is due to hit the UK

A dried up lake in Wanstead Park, north east London today, as Britain braces itself for another heatwave

Sunbathers enjoy the warm climes at Porthmeor Beach in St Ives, Cornwall

Firefighters across Devon have spent the day tackling grass fires around the county

Outside the hottest areas, much of England and Wales and south-east Scotland could see temperatures widely in the high 20s, with a chance of a few spots seeing temperatures into the low 30s, the Met Office said.

Scotland and Northern Ireland will also see temperatures in the high 20s and could reach official heatwave criteria by Friday, the forecasters said.

With the latest heatwave coming after months of low rain, which have left the countryside and urban parks and gardens tinder-dry, households in some areas are being urged not to light fires or have barbecues.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service is urging people not to light barbecues or bonfires, or let off fireworks or sky lanterns, after a large blaze which damaged gardens, sheds and trees was started by a chiminea.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents 28,000 farmers and landowners in England and Wales, has demanded retailers follow the lead of Marks & Spencer and ban the sale of disposable barbecues across the UK this summer to reduce the risk of wildfires in the dry conditions.

The Met Office’s fire severity index (FSI), an assessment of how severe a fire could become if one were to start, is very high for most of England and Wales, and will reach ‘exceptional’ for a swathe of England by the weekend.

Scientists warn that the likelihood of droughts occurring is becoming higher due to climate change, driven by greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels and other human activities.

Families make the most of sunny weather at Porthgwidden Beach in St Ives, Cornwall

Dry earth on the banks of Grafham Water near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, where water is receding during the drought

Fire Fighters rushed to Ludwell Valley near the centre of Exeter after a fire took hold. The fire ripped through the grass lands, stopping merely meters away from residential houses

SHOW GARDENS ‘PRIORITISING WHICH PLANTS TO LOOK AFTER’ DURING DRY SPELL

Britain’s most famous gardens are prioritising which plants to look after to cope with the ‘increasingly challenging’ spell of dry weather.

Three of the 10 driest parts of England are Kew Gardens, in south-west London, the Cambridge University Botanic Garden and the RHS Garden Wisley, in Surrey.

These gardens, alongside seven other areas in the south of England, have recorded less than 250mm rainfall since November, provisional figures from the Met Office show.

But it is proving a struggle for horticulturalists, who are fighting to stop valued collections from dying out this summer.

At Kew Gardens, a Unesco World Heritage site, staff are prioritising plants that have high conservation value or historic importance – or which are extinct in the wild.

Richard Barley, Kew’s director of gardens, said this has been ‘increasingly challenging in recent weeks as we have seen very little rain’.

Protecting the 300-acre collection has been vital since the 40C heatwave last month and fears that the current mini heatwave may spark prolonged drought.

‘We do so, for example, by opting not to irrigate the wider lawns and natural habitats, instead allowing them to brown off and rejuvenate after periods of rainfall, later in the year,’ Mr Barley told the PA news agency.

Kew is also ‘avoiding excessively using sprinklers during the day’ to reduce evaporation rates, Mr Barley added, and is using its own composted mulch and slow-release watering bags to improve growing conditions.

Mr Barley said: ‘We also have to look at the wider picture and consider how the landscape itself could change over the next 50 years to make it more suited to the changing climate.

‘Part of this involves looking closely at our species selection criteria and identifying plants that may be better-adapted to warmer and drier climates zones such as the western USA and central America, the Mediterranean rim, Southern Africa, Australasia and Chile.

Meanwhile, at Cambridge University Botanic Garden, Mediterranean species such as lavender, cistus and phlomis well, are enjoying the current dry spell.

But Sally Petitt, its head of horticulture, said: ‘Other species, such as our handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrata) prefer moist conditions and these have struggled in recent weeks, defoliating much earlier than normal in an attempt to preserve themselves.

‘Others, including Magnolia sprengeri ‘Diva’ have had their foliage scorched in the extreme heat. We are very conscious that plants from wetter regions such as Asian woodlands will be at far greater risk than Mediterranean plants.’

Climate change is also making heatwaves more intense, frequent and likely – with last month’s record temperatures made at least 10 times more likely because of global warming, and ‘virtually impossible’ without it, research shows.

The Met Office recently raised the temperatures that have to be reached for an official heatwave for eight English counties, to reflect the warming conditions in the UK.

Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Tony Wardle said: ‘Heatwave criteria look likely to be met for large areas of the UK later this week, with the hottest areas expected in central and southern England and Wales on Friday and Saturday.

‘Temperatures could peak at 35C, or even an isolated 36C on Saturday.

‘Elsewhere will see temperatures widely into the high 20s and low 30s Celsius later this week as temperatures build day on day through the week due to an area of high pressure extending over much of the UK.

‘Coupled with the high daytime temperatures will be continued warm nights, with the mercury expected to drop to only around low 20s Celsius for some areas in the south.’

The Met Office said there is little rain in the forecast, with only the North West likely to see any short-lived showers.

Mr Wardles said: ‘Further south, which has seen little rain for some time now, dryness will continue through the week and provide no relief for parched land, especially in the South East.’

Richard Allan, professor of climate science at the University of Reading, said there are many reasons why drought events become worse as a result of human-driven climate change.

A warmer atmosphere is thirstier and dries out the ground, while heatwaves exacerbate the development of drought conditions, and, because continents are warming so fast, ocean winds cannot blow enough moisture over the land.

Uneven global warming can also disrupt weather patterns, and make periods of more persistent wet or dry conditions more common.

‘Human caused warming of climate is intensifying the global water cycle and disrupting weather patterns leading to more severe droughts but also more serious flooding events across the globe,’ said Prof Allan.

Dr Leslie Mabon, lecturer in environmental systems at The Open University, said: ‘Above all else, the drought risk we are seeing in the UK is a reminder that we urgently need to tackle the problem at source: this means reducing emissions from fossil fuels to limit the extent of harmful climate change we will face.

‘Moreover, countries like the UK, which have traditionally had more a more temperate climate and have less experience of managing the prolonged effects of hot, dry spells, need to plan now to adapt to hotter weather.

‘More than encouraging individuals to save water, this also means looking at our water infrastructure and considering where investments are made to ensure we are better prepared for managing water in hot spells.’

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