Ofwat asserts water companies must improve their performance after recent research identifies they’ve fallen short on targets

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1st November 2024 15:47 - Utilities

Water sector regulator Ofwat is calling on water companies to improve their performance following the results of their annual report: Ofwat’s annual Water Company Performance Report revealed that record investment alone in the next five-year period will not deliver the sustained improvements to services and the environment needed to rebuild public trust – indicating that significant improvements are still needed from English and Welsh water and wastewater companies.

Ofwat’s report assessed the performance of the sixteen largest water and wastewater companies in England and Wales in 2023-24 and compared it to the commitment levels set for that year. Ofwat also investigated the progress that has been made towards meeting performance commitment levels and the trends in performance in the first four years of the 2020-2025 period.

Regarding pollution, the research revealed there was only a 2% reduction in pollution incidents, despite the commitment to reduce by 30%. The only company to meet the set criteria was Welsh company Hafren Dyfrdwy. Only one other organisation, Southern Water, managed to even reduce its pollution incidents in 2023 (down from 90.11 to 58.90 incidents per 10,000 km of sewer). However, Southern Water does not yet warrant praise, as they’re remain 36.50 incidents off the committed target. The other nine water companies assessed in this category saw an increase in incidents – a backwards step after more than half met the performance commitment level in 2022, showing better performance is achievable.

Another aspect the research investigated was internal sewer flooding performance. In 2019, the sector committed to reduce the number of internal sewer flooding incidents by 41% in the period 2020-2025. The first four years of this period saw only a 10% reduction with almost all the companies experiencing an increase in 2023-24. During this same period, only Dwr Cymru, Northumbrian Water, and South West Water met the commitment level – all of which recorded less than 1.44 incidents per 10,000 sewer connections (the set level). United Utilities had the highest rate of incidents per 10,000 sewer connections, with a score of 4.45. This is 2.11 incidents over the sector average.

The report also found that customer satisfaction is now at its lowest point since the measure was introduced in 2020-21. Southern Water and Thames Water remained the worst performers for the fourth consecutive year in this category. Several companies attributed their declining performance to operational and weather-related issues.

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