Water: Waste
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of water pipe movement in dry soils on the volume of water lost due to broken pipes.
Answered by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Dry, hardened soils caused by lack of rainfall can cause ground shifts which can move water pipes and damage infrastructure, leading to increased leakage. The Government is working with water companies to reduce supply pipe leakage and install smart meters to improve leakage detection. To deliver this, water companies have committed to delivering a 50% reduction in leakage from 2017-2018 levels by 2050. The £104 billion Plan for Change investment programme should also deliver a further 17% reduction in leakage, bringing the sector to the lowest level since privatisation.
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