We are a customer focused organisation made up of people who are passionate about the provision of a safe and reliable water service to our customers.
We have been working hard to deliver our 2020-25 targets but have faced unprecedented challenges. The start of the 2020-25 period coincided almost exactly with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought new operational challenges. These challenges have impacted our service and affected customer experiences.
For three consecutive years, we have outperformed our targets for taste and odour tap water and appearance of tap water as well as industry averages in CRI (water quality) and remained within acceptable limits for the most recent two years. Although we experienced a setback in meeting our leakage target last year, we have achieved it for the past fifteen years. Additionally, we have observed a seven per cent average annual increase in mains repairs over the past three years, falling below the industry median of 11 per cent.
We write this plan on the back of enduring a particularly difficult year in 2022-23, marked by extreme weather events. That caused significant ground movement, leading to major network failures and smaller leaks. We have developed a set of actions to help improve performance in the following five performance commitments:
- Customer Satisfaction (C-Mex)
- Mains repairs
- Per Capita Consumption
- Leakage
- Supply interruptions
During the writing of this plan Ofwat has initiated an enforcement case concerning our supply interruption performance, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) has issued a draft undertaking. As we continue discussing with both parties, the subsequent program is subject to change. Ofwat requests that we deliver quarterly updates on our progress in addressing the actions detailed in this report and share these updates with stakeholders and customers. Our Board and Executive will evaluate these reports and rectify any deviations from our set goals.
We have long advocated for increased investment in our network infrastructure to improve resilience against extreme weather events. In pursuit of this goal, we have taken steps during this present period to strengthen our network resilience.
To read our full Service Commitment Plan click here.