A DROUGHT has been predicted for the south east of Britain this summer. Pleasure boats were stranded on sandbanks in the River Thames recently and Thames Water authority is losing up to 1,000 million litres of water every day due to leakage.
That is not to suggest there will come a day when one turns on the tap for a drink of water and nothing comes out. But Thames Water's leakage problems since it was privatised in 1989 concerned Ofwat, the water regulator, to such a degree that earlier this year it ordered the company to produce quarterly progress reports on repairs to its pipes.
Finding and plugging leaks in 20,000 miles of water mains in the Thames region "is not going to happen overnight", said Mr Nick Tennant, of Thames Water. "There are 18 million joins, each of which has the potential to leak. We're spending £1 million every day to repair the leaks, and of 38 per cent of leaks from the pipes, 10 per cent are leaks from customers' internal pipes. We've spent £350 million so far to improve water quality," he said "and there's a team of 800 people working on the project."
However, water quality is not much use to customers if the pipes are leaking and they can't get any, but at least Thames Water had a "good" record on hosepipe bans, said Mr Tennant. "We haven't imposed one since 1990. We know it's our duty to reduce leakages, but we can't do it overnight," he repeated.
Thames Water charged the lowest water rates throughout England and Wales, but as Mr Tennant conceded, since privatisation 10 years ago the average water bill paid by customers had increased by nearly £100 as the cost of repairing leaks was partly transferred to customers. Thames Water's target date for halving leakages is 2005, "but we're working hard".
Ofwat has kept a close eye on the water authorities, not only Thames, but also Southern Water and East Anglia, since privatisation. Ms Dilys Plant, head of the regulator's external relations, said all water authorities had "far too much leakage". While the levels fell in the years immediately following privatisation, some of them took their eye off the ball, so we've encouraged them to promote the efficient use of water, the introduction of early hosepipe ban to counter the effects of water shortage during hot weather, "and tighten up their targets for repairing leaks".
Indeed, Ofwat set Thames Water a target of reducing leakage by 13 per cent for last year. Although Ofwat will not impose a fine on the water authority if it failed to meet the target - the figures are not out yet - it could set a mandatory target which it must meet", and if that failed, "it would be in breach of its licence" and legal action would be a possibility.
However, many farmers in the south east believe the problem of water leakage has been compounded by the exceptionally dry weather during the last year. In parts of Essex, which had 11 inches of rainfall - only 3 inches more than the Sahara Desert - one farmer bemoaned the sunny weather: "It's a nightmare, this is the worst year I can remember. We usually hope to get 6 inches from January to the beginning of April. This year we have had just two. It really is very dry out there - we've forgotten what wellington boots are."
At the other end of the country, Yorkshire Water, which was severely criticised last summer over supply problems, should get through the warm weather without any restrictions. According to its latest figures the reservoirs are 95 per cent full. Attractive share offers and pay rises for board members were seen as unfair by many of its customers, who narrowly escaped having to use water from standpipes on the streets.
"It was almost like rationing during the war," said one woman at the time. The hot weather and low rainfall also had their effect but with a commodity such as water, customers believed it would never run out.
Meanwhile, the water authorities, criticised for a severe lack of foresight, buried their heads in the sand.
If Thames Water wants to avoid imposing restrictions, such as the dreaded hosepipe ban or water metering, it may have to reeducate its customers. The average householder uses 160 litres a day and a garden hose can use up to 1,000 litres an hour. On the other hand, the water authorities may be forced to listen to their customers, many of whom are "fed up" with the water leakage problem and simply want them to get their act together this summer.