Letter: Thames Water Should Save Water by Fixing the Leaks

Published on: 17 Jul, 2022
Updated on: 17 Jul, 2022

From: Sara Tokunaga

In response to: Thames Water Urges Households to Control Water Usage as Heatwave Continues

Water has been leaking from one of two properties in my road for months. From time to time Thames Water appears and paints blue lines on the pavement.

Attempting to report this online is next to impossible due to the inefficiency of the system. After receiving two emails and one text telling me I need to save water I again contacted Thames Water. It took half an hour on the phone with no positive result.

I asked for an email address as I wished to make a formal complaint. 10 minutes later I received a message telling me it had been arranged for someone to call me the next day to discuss my complaint. I was told there was no email address specifically for complaints.

I have since spoken to another person who deals with complaints but have got no further other than being told to call again on Tuesday if nothing had been done.

Meanwhile, gallons and gallons of water are being wasted due to Thames Water’s inefficiency.

To add insult to injury I have since received two further emails from Thames Water telling me how to save water. They should start by fixing the leaks!

Responses to Letter: Thames Water Should Save Water by Fixing the Leaks

Sue Warner Reply

July 17, 2022 at 8:21 pm

Exactly, Aldershot Road has been leaking for weeks and not for the first time this year.
Jim Allen Reply

July 17, 2022 at 8:52 pm

Thames Water is only responsible for leaks up to the meter or stop cock in the footpath. Any leak inside the curtilage is down to the property owner. Digging up and making a repair can be very expensive.

Though having dealt with Thames Water, for both fresh and foul water issues, their customer service is one star at best
Jan Messinger Reply

July 17, 2022 at 9:26 pm

I totally agree with Sara Tokunaga. Sadly I had no water yesterday from my water supplier and was very grateful to be able to shower at a friend’s home.

We live in the South East the highest populated area of the UK after London. The water companies need to get their act together. Plus all the time we build more homes with several toilets and bathrooms. Ironic isn’t it.
S Callanan Reply

July 18, 2022 at 4:42 pm

Thames Water’s website as of this minute says:

“Every day we supply 2.6 billion litres of water, but not all of that gets to our customers. At the moment, we leak almost 24 per cent of the water we supply. We know it’s not acceptable to be losing so much precious water and we’ve got a plan to fix it. It’s not going to be quick, but we’re making progress.

We work with Ofwat, our regulator, to agree stretching targets for reducing our leakage. Through careful planning, better use of data and new ways of working, we met our target in 2020 and 2021. In 2020/21, we reduced the amount of water leaked by almost six per cent, or 37 Ml/d [megalitres per day – a megalitre is a million litres].”

“Stretching targets” eh? Ah, now I’m reassured.
Dave Fielding Reply

July 19, 2022 at 5:27 am

I agree , some years they meet their targets and other years it’s a close fail. I think their annual report describes the situation as fluid.