Lib Dems Slam Thames Water Over Leaks

Thames Water has been blasted by the Liberal Democrats in Reading as the hosepipe ban continues, after the company reportedly lost 569 million litres of water to leaks in 2024/2025 - the equivalent of 227 Olympic-sized pools every day. The Environment Agency declared the Thames Valley, including Reading, in a period of "prolonged dry weather" and a ban was imposed on July 23.

The Lib Dems say Thames Water should fix its leaky infrastructure rather than slapping restrictions on 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."

He added: "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 said the recent rain had only a limited impact after months of hot weather and that reservoirs and groundwater need sustained, significant rainfall to recover. They said: "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."

The company added it has been fixing more than 1,000 leaks a week, thanked customers for a more than six per cent reduction in water demand since the ban began, and said profits are reinvested into the business. It also pointed to major mains replacement schemes and said it is increasing leakage detection, accelerating repairs and investing to reduce leakage and improve resilience.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter