Thames Water has been blasted by the Liberal Democrats in Reading for the ongoing hosepipe ban as the company has lost millions of litres of water each day due to leaks.
This summer, the Environment Agency declared the Thames Valley, including Reading, under a period of ‘prolonged dry weather’ with a hosepipe ban being imposed on July 23.
While the ban remains in place, the Liberal Democrats in Reading have called out the company over figures, which show it has lost 569 million litres of water due to leaks in 2024/2025.
That’s the equivalent of 227 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day.
The Lib Dems have therefore called on Thames Water to urgently ‘get its house in order’ by fixing the leaky infrastructure rather than simply imposing hosepipe bans on their customers.
Councillor James Moore (Liberal Democrats, Tilehurst) said: “Thames Water have got away with their grossly negligent handling of our water infrastructure for far too long – now these figures prove it. Thames Water needs to urgently get its house in order.
“Now Thames Water wants Reading residents to pay more too. Bill increases must come with a cast-iron guarantee that the money goes into fixing leaks and stopping sewage dumping – not into paying off debt or rewarding bosses who’ve presided over this failure.
“Whilst residents in Reading have to face a hosepipe ban, Thames Water are taking them for a ride. They must stop rewarding their unaccountable bosses with exorbitant bonuses and start investing in fixing their infrastructure so we can avoid this happening time after time.
“The Government must immediately replace Ofwat with a powerful new regulator to hold Thames Water to account for its persistent failures. Under the mutual model of ownership that we are calling for, infrastructure investment would be a priority for water companies, with bills reinvested into stopping leaks and preventing sewage dumping.”
A Thames Water spokesperson added: “The recent rain has been welcome but has had only a limited impact following many months of the hottest summer on record.
“Although we want to lift the hosepipe ban as soon as we can, we need sustained, significant rainfall over months to help rivers recover and groundwater levels recharge before reservoir levels can fully recover.
“We continue to monitor conditions closely and are grateful to customers for continuing to use water wisely. Their support remains essential as we manage water resources following what the Met Office has this week declared was the warmest summer on record.”
The spokesperson added that the company has been fixing more than 1,000 leaks a week.
They explained: “When the ground becomes very dry, it can shrink, crack and move, placing additional stress on buried water mains and increasing the likelihood of leaks and bursts.
“At the same time, customer demand for water increases significantly during hot weather, placing additional pressure on the network. We did not ‘simply impose’ a hosepipe ban, as has been claimed.”
The spokesperson then thanked customers for a more than six per cent reduction in water demand since the ban began, and stressed that every pound of profit is reinvested back into the business.
They added: “Readers will have seen news about the major mains replacement scheme that will reduce leaks in south Reading and may be aware of similar projects on the A4 at Kiln Green and around Arborfield and Barkham.
“Last year Thames Water invested a record £2.7 billion across our infrastructure as we launched the biggest upgrade project whilst also reducing leaks by 15.1%[1]. We are increasing leakage detection, accelerating repairs and investing £3.3 billion between 2025 and 2030 to help reduce leakage and improve long-term resilience.”
