Water companies have been instructed to pay out £114 million to customers
Water companies that have failed to meet requirements will have to lower bills for customers, as ITV News Correspondent Chloe Keedy reports
Water companies have been instructed to pay out £114 million to customers by lowering bills due to environmental protection progress being "too slow".
The regulatory body, Ofwat, said that the majority of suppliers were failing to meet key targets on reducing pollution, leakage and supply interruptions.
In its annual review no company ranked in the the "leading", 10 were marked as "average" and seven - Anglian Water, Bristol Water Dŵr Cymru, South East Water, Southern Water, Thames Water and Yorkshire Water - were determined to be "lagging".
Underperforming providers are restricted by Ofwat in the amount of money they can charge bill payers, and in this instance expected to pay back customers by lowering bills.
Thames Water is the company which must return the most, over £101 million, followed by Southern Water which must pay out £43 million.
Thames Water serves 15 million people with water and wastewater while Southern Water serves around 4.6 million
The total industry amount of £114 million is offset by some companies being rewarded, such as Severn Trent Water taking £88 million and United Utilities taking £25 million.
Ofwat said these figures are provisional until it completes the review process.
David Black, Ofwat CEO, said: “The targets we set for companies were designed to be stretching – to drive improvements for customers and the environment.
“However, our latest report shows they are falling short, leading to £114 million being returned to customers through bill reductions.
“While that may be welcome to bill payers, it is very disappointing news for all who want to see the sector do better.
“It is not going to be easy for companies to regain public trust, but they have to start with better service for customers and the environment.
“We will continue to use all our powers to ensure the sector delivers better value.”
Ofwat said it is investigating all 11 water and wastewater companies with live enforcement cases for six companies for potential failures on sewage discharges into the environment.
They are also investigating Dwr Cymru and South West Water in relation to the accuracy of leakage reporting and per capita consumption.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said on Monday that it is providing more funding to reduce the amount of times sewage is pumped out of storm overflows, adding another £4 billion on to the £56 billion it announced last year.
It has updated its Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan to include as “high priority sites” those storm overflows that eject sewage into Marine Protected Areas, shellfish waters, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and bathing waters.
Defra said this will not result in any bill rises for customers until 2025 and that stopping all pollution would cost between £120 billion and £600 billion, which would increase annual water bills by between £271 and £817 by 2049.
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