Report lays out leakage ambitions and calls for teamwork and invention

Water companies in England have launched a report setting out the importance of pan-industry collaboration and innovation to make significant reductions in leakage by 2050 along with a call on regulators and policymakers to lend a hand.

The companies sad the report: Leakage Routemap 2050 “provides a framework for companies to meet their commitment to triple the rate of leakage reduction by 2030 and halve leakage by 2050.”

The routemap calls on regulators and policymakers to support the replacement of old, leaky pipes to match European replacement rates.

The routemap was launched at the 22nd Annual Leakage Conference where chief executive of Anglian Water, Peter Simpson, said: "We’ve already reduced leakage to the lowest levels on record. But we need to go even further, and even faster. And in the face of accelerating climate change and rapid population growth, the interventions we will make through the Routemap have never been more needed.” He said it will call for “unprecedented levels of innovation and collaboration.”

Simpson along with his counterpart at Portsmouth Water, Bob Taylor, and at Affinity Water, Stuart Ledger, have sponsored the development of the report on behalf of the whole industry.

Speaking at the Leakage Conference. Taylor highlighted how the difficulty in making further cuts grows as the “low-hanging fruit” is collected: “The challenge is getting harder as leakage levels reduce." He added that regulators need to be made aware that “the greater effort needed just to stand still makes it seem like we are flattening off.”

Water UK chief executive, Christine McGourty, said the Leakage Routemap “provides a vital blueprint for companies and their supply chain to work together.”

Targets included in the Leakage Routemap included:

• better quantification of background levels of leakage and customer-side leakage;

• a sector-wide code of practice on how to lay mains pipes without leaks; and

• a strategy to tackle customer supply pipe leakage

The 2030 reduction rate target was set out in the 2019 Public Interest Commitment while the 2050 halving leakage pledge was endorsed by the National Infrastructure Committee.