Subscribe to this blog's feedThames Water has had its fair share of opprobrium heaped on its head over leakage from its mains, but last night’s BBC TV’s Watchdog also put the boot in over a customer pipe leak. The story focused on ex-BBC TV Blue Peter presenter Matt Baker and his missus bleating on about an £8,224.16 bill they had received from Thames Water, due to him forgetting to send back some pesky form. Nevertheless, Watchdog inquisitor general “Saint” Nicky Campbell still managed to find time to bang on yet again about how unbelievable it was that Thames managed to lose the equivalent of 8 million Olympic swimming pools a day (or something) from its network. 
Has no-one told the BBC that Thames has now got leakage under control and is on course to meet or beat its 2009-10 Ofwat economic level of leakage (ELL) target?
But we digress. The story started when the Bakers had a visit from a Thames Water engineer asking why the house wasn’t floating away on a giant leak which had been detected on their property. In line with Thames’ policy, this first leak was fixed free of charge and the Bakers were asked to fill in and return a standard leakage allowance form so they would not be charged for the lost water. This they failed to do within the 90 day period allowed, hence the whopping bill.
To be fair to the Bakers, they did have other things on their minds, as Mrs Baker had just given birth. And it appears Thames sent mixed messages as to whether the bill had to be paid or not – though once fearless consumer champion Campbell stepped in, Thames did finally agree to waive the bill.
This story is not as trivial as it sounds, as the issue of supply pipe leakage is set to rise up the agenda as water companies drive down leakage on their distribution networks to or below ELL and domestic metering penetration increases in the south east of England. It is believed that leaks on customer supply pipes could account for as much as 13 per cent of water supplied, and as resources become scarcer there will be more pressure on companies to identify customer leaks. While most companies do fix at least the first leak for free or at a subsidised rate, just like the mains network, it is often the case that very old supply pipes must be replaced rather than repaired to solve the problem. While water companies have the legal power to require customers to repair leaks on their property, it would be a brave company that hauls a customer before the courts to force them to stop leaks. Then Watchdog really would have a field day.
