Your water company has a role to play in tackling issues such as the increase in demand for water and climate change. Each water company is required to prepare a 25-year plan for managing water supplies. These plans explain how your water company will meet the demand for water over the long-term to take account of things like:

• increases in the population
• new housing
• changing weather patterns due to climate change

What does my water company do to make sure that I have enough water?

We expect your water company to make sure it has sufficient water supplies to meet the needs of all of its consumers. Your water company must manage its water resources so that this happens.

All of the water companies must plan for the long term, looking ahead 25 years. These plans have to show how the water companies will:

• make sure that sufficient water supplies are maintained
• address leakage issues
• encourage customers to use water wisely

We also ask each water company to report on its carbon footprint. We think that this will help the water companies to make investments that will minimise their carbon costs.

Why do water companies sometimes have to restrict water supplies?

We expect all of the water companies to plan on the basis that they may occasionally need to impose restrictions on water supplies, such as hosepipe bans. This usually happens during long periods of continuous dry weather or drought.

It would be too expensive for the water companies, and therefore for customers, to allow unlimited access to water all of the time. Allowing unlimited water use during long periods of very dry weather would also be damaging to the environment.

Customer research tells us that customers are prepared to live with the risk of hosepipe bans once every 10 years. It also tells us that customers are not prepared to pay more to reduce the risk of restrictions.

If there are serious shortages in a water company’s area because of very low rainfall, the company may need to introduce restrictions as a precaution. This is so that the water company can make sure that its customers always have enough water for drinking, cooking and washing.

Water supply restrictions such as hosepipe bans do not necessarily mean that a company is failing its customers.

Find out more about drought and how it affects you.

Why doesn’t it address leakage instead?

Leakage levels are much lower now than they used to be. Together, the water companies have reduced the amount of water lost through leaks by about a third since the mid-1990s. This is enough to supply the daily needs of 11 million people.

The water companies manage a network of 335,000 km of pipes and there are almost 24 million connections to properties. All of these have the capacity to leak.

Your water company has a target to reduce the amount of water lost through leaks on its network. We set each water company a target and make sure that it meets them. We action against any company that does not meet its target. We publish each company’s performance against its leakage target each year.

It would be almost impossible and very expensive to eliminate leakage altogether. The targets we set have to balance the benefits to the environment from reducing leakage and the costs to consumers for finding and fixing leaks.

What can I do to help address leakage?

As a customer, you are responsible for the supply pipe to your home. This is the pipe that runs from the boundary of your property into your home. About a third of all leakage is from customers’ supply pipes.

If you have a water meter, you can help by checking it regularly. This will help you to monitor how much water you use. If you do not have a water meter, you may wish to check that there are no unexplained damp areas of soil on your property. This may indicate a leak.

A number of companies offer free pipe repairs. You should contact your water company to find out more.

You can also help by reporting other leaks to your local water company straight away. Your water company is responsible for fixing leaks in water mains as quickly as possible, although priority is usually given to major bursts.

What else is my water company doing?

Your water company must also offer you help to save water.