Water regulator Ofwat to pour £75million of taxpayers' cash into telling households how to save water... while billions of litres wasted daily due to leaky pipes
The watchdog, which ministers have vowed to scrap, is set to launch the multi-million-pound advertising and information campaign to reduce water usage by homes and businesses.
Ofwat said the campaign will be funded by water bills – which are already set to rise by an average of £123 this year.
Meanwhile, an average of three billion litres of water – equivalent to 1,200 Olympic sized swimming pools – is being wasted daily in England and Wales due to leaky pipes, research by the House of Commons Library for the Liberal Democrats found this year.
Government figures also show that household water use is already falling – down by an average of four litres per person per day over the past two years.
Ofwat chief executive David Black, who was paid £250,000 including pension last year, told MPs that the campaign would be 'cheaper than the alternative of building major new sources of supply' if it succeeds.
But John O'Connell, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Taxpayers won't miss this lecturing regulator once it's abolished. For decades, Ofwat has failed to balance the competing priorities of keeping bills low and ensuring investment, while also being slow to some of the excesses of water executives.'
An Ofwat spokesman insisted customers would only pay a small amount on their bills as a result of the campaign.
They said: 'The campaign is part of a much larger strategy to deliver 30 new reservoirs and water supply projects, along with the roll-out of a further 10 million smart meters and water labelling.
'The average customer will only pay 62p per year for the delivery of the campaign, during which time leakage is set to reduce by a further 17 per cent.'
The campaign will be funded by up to £75 million over five years, and will support 'a large-scale campaign on efficient water use covering England and Wales and both household and business sectors', documents revealed.
Environment Secretary Steve Reed announced last month that regulator Ofwat would be scrapped, as part of measures to pull overlapping water regulation by four different bodies into one 'single powerful' regulator responsible for the whole sector.
Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins said: 'Labour and Ofwat need to learn how to turn off the tap of wasteful spending on lecturing the public and instead focus on mending.'
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