By Nicholas Earl
Serious pollution incidents have increased this year, revealed Ofwat in a collection of highly critical reports on the performance of the water industry this year.
The watchdog described poor performance as “the norm” for some water companies, and named five suppliers as the worst performing companies operationally.
This includes Northumbrian Water, Southern Water, South West Water, Thames Water, Welsh Water and Yorkshire Water.
Despite noting improvements across the industry, Ofwat revealed it was still “deeply concerned” by companies lagging behind expectations.
The companies are now being required to explain what has led to their poor performance, and present a clear action plan to turn this around.
It also analysed the financial resilience of the water firms, after a year in which three companies have been forced to inject capital to boost their operations,
The body said most companies had not managed to clearly explain the link between the dividends paid to shareholders and performance for customers.
While leaks had declined to their lowest levels since privatisation, Ofwat also determined water companies more needed to do more to reach the industry target of cutting leaks by 50 per cent over the next three decades compared to 2017-8 levels.
David Black, Ofwat chief executive said: “In too many areas, water and wastewater companies are falling short when it comes to looking after customers, the environment and their own financial resilience. We are clear; these companies need to address this unacceptable performance as a matter of urgency.
“For some companies poor performance has become the norm. This cannot go on. We are requiring the worst performers, including Thames Water and Southern Water, to return around £120m to customers.”
Ofwat has recently imposed enforcement action against some of the country’s largest water firms.
The regulator is currently grappling with sewage overflows and discharges, and has slapped six water companies with enforcement cases.
It also teamed up with the Environmental Agency to announce investigations into all water and wastewater companies last November.
Industry body Water UK, which represents suppliers, has been approached for comment.
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