Millions facing higher water bills… from firms losing 1.18bn litres a day to leaks

Nearly 25 million households are facing extra bill hikes from water firms that have been losing more than a billion litres of water a day to leaks, analysis by The i Paper has found. Five suppliers – Severn Trent Water, Southern Water, Thames Water, Wessex Water and South East Water – are set to be given the green light to increase bills by an additional £3.4bn between them in the coming years. Analysis by The i Paper has found that these companies have lost 1.2 billion litres of water a day to leaks between them, sparking anger from campaigners over the prospect of further bill hikes. Shorts Ofwat, the water regulator, had already given firms permission to charge their customers 36 per cent more for their services between 2025 and 2030. Southern Water, whose customers face paying an extra £80 for the average bill by 2030, has lost up to 101.6 million litres a day to leaks, according to the latest official figures from the regulator. One million of the company’s customers across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are currently subject to a hosepipe ban due to drought conditions. The Prime Minister criticised water companies on Thursday, saying customers “cannot be treated as a blank cheque” and warning that firms seeking to pass unnecessary costs on to households would be challenged. “The truth is, customers have been asked to pay more for years, yet serious pollution incidents are at record levels and the pipes are still leaking,” he added. Activists, including Amy Fairman, River Action’s head of campaigns, have branded the decision to approve further bill rises “an insult” to water customers. “For 30 years, where was the investment in our crumbling water infrastructure? Tens of billions went to investors while essential water and sewage works were neglected. We got leaks, pollution and soaring bills,” she added. How much is your water bill rising? The below increases will come on top of the pre-planned rises of 36 per cent approved by Ofwat for the 2025 to 2030 period. Southern Water: Average annual bills will be £80 higher by 2030. Wessex Water: Average annual bills will be £11 higher by 2030. Thames Water: Average annual bills will be £8 higher by 2030. Severn Trent Water: Average annual bills will be £8 higher by 2030. South East Water: Average annual bills will be £1 higher by 2030. Ofwat said the extra funding would help companies keep pace with rising demand from housebuilding and data centres, and address pollutants known as “forever chemicals”. Nearly a third of the money has been earmarked for maintaining water services, the regulator said. The decision is provisional with a final decision due in December. The jump comes nearly two years after Ofwat gave water companies permission to hike bills by 36 per cent by 2030, with many households seeing an average rise of £123 last year. Bills have continued to increase this year, going up by 5.4 per cent on average, and adding around £33 to household costs. Despite bills rising, water companies have been losing billions of litres of water a day to leaky pipes. Thames Water lost the most to leaks, at 569.1 million litres a day, according to Ofwat’s most recent figures for 2024-2025. A Thames Water spokesperson said leakage was now “15.1 per cent lower than our 2019-20 baseline”, adding that the improvement had been “delivered through sustained investment in our network, modernising our infrastructure, and using innovative technologies to identify and fix leaks”. The company said it had replaced more than 100km of ageing clean water mains since April 2025 as part of its “biggest ever network upgrade”, and had committed to spend £3.3bn on tackling leakage between April 2025 and April 2030. Severn Trent Water lost an estimated 335.1 million litres a day, its lowest figure on record. The company said it would replace 870 miles of water pipes as part of a £15bn investment package, as was using innovative technology alongside teams on the ground to find and fix leaks. South East Water lost 104.8 million litres a day and Wessex Water 69.1 million litres. A spokesperson for Southern Water said Ofwat’s decision “recognises that costs have risen as we work to deliver the improvements our customers want”. “The additional funding reflects unavoidable increased costs and is needed if we’re to meet strict obligations to protect the environment and secure the long-term water supplies the population needs,” they added. South East Water said: “Our priority remains delivering the critical infrastructure improvements needed to secure long-term water supplies, improve services for our customers and protect the environment, while keeping bills as affordable as possible.” Robert Anthony-Scorse, the company’s head of leakage, said South East Water was “working flat out to reduce leakage across our network”, adding that it spends around £63m a year finding and fixing leaks and employs 400 staff on repairs. Ofwat said it had rejected £752m of the £4.3bn in spending requests submitted, in some cases because companies had not delivered on previously funded work. Helen Campbell, the regulator’s interim executive director, said: “We will track performance to ensure companies are delivering the expected improvements for customers and the environment. If they don’t, expenditure can be clawed back.” Wessex Water was approached for comment.