Regulators have issued a formal warning to South West Water, a privatized utility serving 1.8 million people across south-west England, regarding its persistent inability to address water leaks and pipe bursts. The joint letter from Ofwat, the Environment Agency, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs highlighted that the company has missed leakage reduction targets for seven consecutive years, creating heightened risks to customer water supplies during an ongoing drought.
Current leakage from South West Water’s infrastructure amounts to 113.5 million litres daily—equivalent to 45 Olympic swimming pools—with losses exceeding the previous year by 5.7 million litres per day. The regulator’s letter noted that leakage is running 18.5% above forecasted levels, a situation deemed unacceptable given existing drought pressures. About 82% of England remains in drought conditions, with severe drought declared across parts of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset, and Sussex. The National Drought Group convened to address the ongoing crisis, with forecasters indicating that 120% of typical rainfall over seven months would be needed to resolve drought conditions nationally.
Approximately 325,000 people and thousands of businesses in Exeter and mid-and-east Devon face potential supply disruptions in coming weeks and months. South West Water’s reservoir levels have become critically low after exceptionally dry weather; Wimbleball reservoir, serving customers across multiple counties, held only 16% of capacity. The company has requested household water conservation measures to maintain supplies, though it has not publicly attributed supply risks to its own leakage management shortcomings. Regulators emphasized that failing to address leaks undermines public confidence in the company and may necessitate emergency water abstraction from rivers, risking environmental damage.
Local government officials have expressed frustration with the company’s performance, noting that customers have been asked to conserve water while the utility has not adequately managed its infrastructure losses. South West Water has been directed to submit an action plan addressing leaks within six weeks. The company’s drought programme director indicated that recent rainfall has provided some improvement and that the utility continues implementing various measures to strengthen supplies and reduce losses.
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