DEVON County Council has slammed South West Water after an official letter revealed the company is missing its leakage targets, and therefore putting customer supplies at risk, despite being warned for seven years in a row.

The joint letter from regulator Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) revealed by the Guardian said South West Water's owner Pennon has been warned for seven successive years its repeated failures to meet its own forecasts on reducing leakage are putting drought-hit customers and businesses in danger of supply restrictions.

It states: “Leakage is 18.5 per cent above forecast... and increased since the previous year.

“Given the ongoing drought conditions, these shortcomings are placing customers at a greater level of risk. This is not acceptable.”

South West Water forecast its leakage would fall but it increased by 5.78 million litres in 2025/26 to 113.54 million litres per day. This amount is comparable to around 45 Olympic swimming pools in volume.

The company also lost 5.57 million litres daily to bursts and supply interruptions above its own forecasts and put an extra 35 million litres of water every day into its network every day to make up for losses and keep taps flowing.

Customers in areas most affected by drought recently began receiving letters from South West Water urging them to save water.

Devon County Council Leader Julian Brazil said: “Householders and businesses have been told to save water to avoid worse drought restrictions and that was all down to the dry weather.

“Now we learn South West Water has been continually warned for seven years it’s not doing its bit on leakage.

“Their record is somehow even worse and that failure puts our rivers and wildlife at risk of prolonged environmental damage and may leave customers and businesses facing supply restrictions.

“I would say it’s a surprise but it’s not because this crisis has been decades in the making. While we’ve been paying the highest bills in the nation since 1989, South West Water has been busy continually polluting our bathing waters, busy losing nearly one in every five litres of water on its network and most busy paying out billions in dividends to its shareholders.

“I’m pleased the Prime Minister and regulators are finally telling water companies it’s closing time in their last chance saloon but businesses and families in Devon may be left picking up the pieces left by South West Water’s appalling record of greed and failure.”

South West Water Drought Programme Director Richard Stanbrook said: “Recent rainfall is having a positive impact on our water resources, with welcome improvements after months of exceptionally dry conditions.

“However, pressure on supplies remains significant, and we need sustained rainfall in the right places to replenish our rivers and reservoirs and secure a lasting recovery.

“We are repairing leaks, moving water around our network and taking every practical step to strengthen supplies and reduce water losses. As conditions improve, we will keep doing everything we can to protect supplies.”