LONDON, UK, AUG 31, 2018 --Water firms across the UK have been criticized by an industry watchdog after it found the amount of water lost to leakages had increased for the second year in a row.
The Guardian reports the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater), said nine of the private companies that supply water in England and Wales failed to meet their targets on cutting leakage. It found that leakages increased by 1.5 percent in 2017-18 on the previous year, to 3,170M liters per day.
CCWater said Thames lost the most water through leakage on a per property, per day basis -- 181.6 liters. In June, the firm was ordered to pay back £65m to customers over its failure to tackle the leaks. It was also hit with £55m in automatic penalties for failing to fulfil its promise to do so.
The best performers were Southern and Essex & Suffolk, which reported losing 79.6 and 81.2 liters per property, per day in 2017-18.
Portsmouth Water, whose losses rose by 8.2 percent, saw the greatest increases in leakage year over year.
CCWater is an independent statutory body that is sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and represents consumers in England and Wales.
