A hosepipe ban shouldn’t mean a free pass for water companies
On Friday 18th July, a hosepipe ban came into force across Sussex and Kent, affecting over one million households. Following a period of rising bills, many people have contacted me, understandably to express their frustration. While longer, drier spells are undeniably putting pressure on our water systems, the situation is inevitably being worsened by the inaction of our water companies.
Households are being asked to cut back: to not water their gardens, wash their cars, or fill paddling pools. Most reasonable people can see that these are not everyday essentials, and if there is not enough water, then we all need to use it carefully. However, South East Water alone loses around 108 million litres of water every day due to leaks. People in Mid Sussex are doing their bit, but the company responsible for our tap water is failing to do theirs. I raised these concerns during a recent interview with ITV Meridian on Chanctonbury Road in Burgess Hill, where a leak has gone unaddressed despite repeated reports from local people. Neighbours told me that they were frustrated - but not surprised – by the hosepipe ban, they want to know how South East Water is going to get better at fixing leaks quickly, rather than letting burst pipes waste hundreds of litres of water for months and months like the one on their road. Sadly, this is not an isolated incident.
I’ve also had direct conversations with Southern Water — the company responsible for wastewater in our area — during my visits to their Control Centre in May and to the Water Treatment Works at Goddards Green near Burgess Hill last week. The latest pollution stats showed that Southern Water was one of the three worst performing water companies when measured by the number of serious pollution incidents last year. I was especially shocked that Southern’s CEO has been awarded a salary top-up of nearly £700,000 which almost doubles his salary to nearly £1.4m. At a time when Southern’s performance is getting worse, I do not think that this can be justified, and that is why I was on regional radio last week demanding that this top up be returned.
The news last week that the government is planning to scrap Ofwat is something that the Lib Dems have been calling for years. The water regulator must be replaced with something that puts customer and environmental interests before profit. Our communities deserve clean, affordable, and reliable water. Executives should be held accountable. Right now, we have a system that rewards them for their mistakes.