Water companies are losing millions of litres of water every day because of leaks – as gardeners across England face £1,000 fines for using hosepipes.
NationalWorld analysis of Ofwat data found over a trillion litres of water was lost through broken or cracked pipes in England last year – enough to water 4.5 billion gardens for 15 minutes apiece, based on one hose pipe using 1,000 litres per hour on average.
The amount lost to leakage was also the equivalent of almost half a million Olympic sized swimming pools.
The analysis comes as Thames Water becomes the latest provider to announce a hose pipe ban after a summer of record-breaking temperatures. The ban comes only days after one of its own pipes burst in Islington, flooding the local street and damaging properties.
How much water has your local provider lost to leaks in the past year? Here we reveal which companies have lost the most water relative to the length of piping in its supply network.
Images are for illustrative purposes only.
1. Thames Water
Thames Water lost 20 cubic metres of water per kilometre of pipe.
2. Affinity Water
Affinity Water lost 11 cubic metres of water per kilometre of pipe.
3. South Staffs Water
South Staffs Water lost 10.8 cubic metres of water per kilometre of pipe.
4. United Utilities
United Utilities lost 10.3 cubic metres of water per kilometre of pipe.