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Meacher: Tough proposals
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Water Companies agree to tough leak targets
The Environment Minister, Michael Meacher, has said the water
companies who have already responded to the government's targets for
the industry have agreed to tough proposals to repair leaks.
These include free repairs for household customers.
Four water companies are believed to have responded to the Government's 10-point plan aimed at improving environmental protection and curbing leakages.
Leakages too high
Three weeks ago Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott set a deadline, which
expires at midnight on Friday, urging firms to meet mandatory targets to help maintain water supplies. He issued a blunt warning to them only days after the election that the current rate of leakages from pipes was too high and loss on this scale should be "intolerable in the industry on efficiency grounds alone".
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Plans to cut leaks
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Mr Prescott said people were "rightly outraged when their supply is
restricted but they know millions of gallons of treated water are being allowed
to leak away".
In addition, water lost through leakage meant higher abstractions and an ever
great strain on the water environment.
Mr Prescott challenged each company to respond to these measures within three
weeks when he made his keynote speech on May 19. He said: "Consultation and the exchange of views and information are the starting points for the actions which will lead to the better water industry which the Government will achieve."
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