Veolia Water Central

“If my out side water supply starts leaking and waters the garden if the cost to repair this is high, More than the cost of cleaning the water do I need too repair the leak?”

I’ll pretend this was a serious question, and answer accordingly.

Legally? Yes, you need to repair the leak. In reality, however, it depends on the water company.

Some stick to the law and insist you carry out repairs, others are more interested in reducing leakage than paying lawyers, and they will repair the leak for you providing it isn’t under a building. Some companies, if the cost of repairing the leak is high (and as long as the leak is doing no damage), may simply offer an allowance on your water bill to offset the value of the water lost.

Keep in mind though, leaks cause the ground to subside, and leaks near buildings can cause structural damage. It’s usually sensible to fix them.

I don’t know Veolia’s policy because I’ve never done any work for them.

This is an independent website, and the chap who runs it doesn’t work for Veolia or any other water company. I’ll have a go at answering some of your question though – I’m a leakage technician by trade (for an independent company, not a water utility).

I don’t know where the figure of 21% came from, but it sounds about right – as does the saving from the hosepipe restrictions.

What is Veolia doing about the leaks? The same as all the other water companies – they’re repairing them as quick as they can within the rules laid down by Ofwat. The no.1 rule is: “We require the water companies to fix leaks, as long as the cost of doing so is less than the cost of not fixing the leak.” (from the Ofwat website: http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/consumerissues/rightsresponsibilities/leakage/). That rule is the ‘economic level of leakage’ rule, and is the basic foundation of leak management worldwide. A more detailed explanation can be found here: http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/publications/commissioned/rpt_com_tripartitestudybstpractprinc.pdf

This method of leakage management only makes sense if there is enough water available to be able to ‘write off’ a significant percentage of treated water because of leaks. These days I’m not sure we still have that luxury.

The cost of reducing leakage is high, and as leakage is reduced the cost of reducing it further increases exponentially – it costs the same amount of money to fix a little leak as it does a big one (on average), and the same amount to fix a tiny leak. Where do you stop? It’s theoretically possible to reduce leakage to zero – but I promise you that if that was done using technology currently available then none of us would be able to afford the water.

As for compensation, that’s not my department, fortunately.