Water leaks and drainage problems

Written by Cllrs Chris Wise & Janet Godden on Fri 7th Dec 2007

Local councillors are well aware of the frustration caused by the problems of leaking water pipes, and inadequate drainage systems, but we need to make it clear that local councils have had no control over the local water supply for the past 10 years.

The water industry, including responsibility for the supply of water and the publicly owned sewage and drainage system was privatised by the Tories under the Water Industry Act in 1991. Until then water authorities had agency agreements whereby the drainage element of the work was done by local councils. From 1991, at varying times across the country, these agency agreements were terminated as the new water companies such as Thames Water took back direct responsibility for the drainage system. This happened in Oxfordshire in 1997, since when the Vale Council has had no responsibility for the local drainage system.

Thames Water is a commercial business, and like any other commercial business it is run for profit, and therefore liable not to do things that cost money such as vital maintenance and upgrading operations. And when we wonder why, for example, Thames Water does not say upfront that the drainage system around Cumnor, Dean Court and Botley cannot cope with the quantities of new houses planned, we need to remember that it stands to make a lot of money for its shareholders out of selling water to the new properties.

Local Lib Dem councillors have tried to urge the water regulator Ofwat to ban further increases in local water bills until Thames Water has made significant progress in repairing the leaks which we all see everywhere, but on the County Council this move was vetoed by the Tories. On the Vale Council Lib Dems are giving the plans for a new reservoir at Steventon very careful scrutinised: the construction of the reservoir would cost about as much as the backlog of repair and maintenance work, so it might seem more logical to upgrade the existing drainage system rather than let it continue to worsen and build a new reservoir. The bottom line for Thames Water, however, is the significant addition to their asset register of £1Bn that the new reservoir would bring.