Water companies to return £158m on bills over poor performance

Water companies have been ordered to return £158m to customers via lower bills next year after missing key targets on issues like pollution.

For the second year in a row, no company achieved the top rating, although four companies did show an improvement from last year. Thames Water will have to make the largest repayment to customers of £56.8m, despite improving its overall performance from last year. One of the key targets for companies is to reduce pollution incidents, which were meant to fall by 30% between 2020 and 2025.

Public dissatisfaction with the industry has risen in recent years particularly in relation to pollution. Ofwat estimates that currently about a fifth of all water put into the network in England and Wales is lost via leaks. This is an important area for the industry because many areas of England already regularly experience water shortages and climate change is expected to exacerbate this issue. The Environment Agency estimates that the country will need an additional 5 billion litres of water a day by 2050 to support the economy and environment.

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