Discover Water - Water industry 2021/22 performance data update

The Discover Water website has been updated with the latest water industry performance data published by water companies for the year 2021/22.

Discover Water allows the public to easily examine measures such as the quality of drinking water or customer satisfaction levels, using data compiled from across the whole of the water industry.

This year, the official data shows that:

• Water quality continues to be maintained at a high standard, passing over 99.95% of quality tests
• Overall leakage was 3,031 million litres per day, a reduction of 82 million litres on the figure reported last year*. In July, Ofwat highlighted that industry wide leakage has been reduced by 11% since 2017-18, heading towards the target of a 50% reduction by 2050.
• The amount of water used per person in England and Wales (Per Capita Consumption) was, on average, 145 litres per day*
• Water supplies were interrupted for an average total of 12 minutes per customer over the course of the year, an increase of about 2 minutes on the previous year
• Net greenhouse gas emissions are down from 1,668 kilotonnes to 1,371 kilotonnes, another step on the industry's journey to net zero emissions
• The average customer experience provided by companies was rated 82 out of 100 by Ofwat (the industry regulator)
• Sewer flooding is up slightly - from 6,079 homes (2020-21) to 6,264 (2021-22)

The online tool can also be used to find out more information such as where the water we use comes from, or what happens to water after we flush.

This is the second year that new ways of measuring performance, introduced by the economic regulator Ofwat as part of the 2019 Price Review, have been used. This means comparisons with performance data reported in years before 2020/21 are not possible.

Performance figures for individual companies are reported in annual performance reports which can be found on company websites.

*The figures for leakage and per capita consumption each year is calculated using the latest data and taking a 3-year average

Notes to editors:

• The water sector’s dashboard of information, DiscoverWater.co.uk, uses information from water companies, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, the Welsh Government, DEFRA, and the Consumer Council for Water.
• Discover Water was delivered through a collaborative project, including the water sector’s regulators and consumer watchdog, which focused on providing unbiased, reliable content that consumers can trust.