Chamber and committees

I have asked Dr Jon Hargreaves, Chief Executive of Scottish Water to respond. His response is as follows:While Scottish Water has reliable estimates of leakage and the impact on costs for certain areas, an overall estimate of the level of cost savings made by reducing leakage levels is not available at this time. Scottish Water is currently carrying out a comprehensive evaluation of the impact and scale of leakage on the water network by area which will quantify the impact of leakage on operational costs, as well as benchmark performance against English and Welsh companies and allow for targeted investment in those areas where active leakage control is proven to achieve operational and capital efficiencies. Any savings depend upon the cost to produce the water at a specific works as well as the cost to transmit the water to centres of demand and the capital and operating costs associated with reducing and maintaining leakage levels. These cost components vary for each water supply zone.

I have asked Dr Jon Hargreaves, Chief Executive of Scottish Water to reply. His response is as follows:Approximately 95% of Scottish Water's water and sewerage mains network was mapped when Scottish Water came into existence on 1 April 2001. This information is currently on three separate Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software systems. A combined system has been developed and will be rolled out to all users by the end of September 2003.There remain some major issues with information about specific attributes, such as the type of material, pipe diameter, fittings details and precise location. As much of the network is decades old, installation details are no longer available. Where records do exist, they are in a variety of locations and formats, such as paper copies and work management repair records. Scottish Water aims to transfer all available information to the harmonised GIS system by December 2004 and the estimated value of this work is £1.2 million.Further validation of GIS data is being carried out on an ongoing basis in co-ordination with other Scottish Water projects, such as leakage evaluations, mains rehabilitation, trunk main valve audits, drainage area studies and work management data capture efforts.

I have asked Dr Jon Hargreaves, Chief Executive of Scottish Water to respond. His response is as follows:Between 2002 and 2006, Scottish Water is replacing in excess of 3,000 kilometres of water mains and this work is prioritised across Scotland to ensure improvements are made in those areas most affected by problems such as frequent bursts or other factors affecting the reliability of water services to customers.Scottish Water is committed to a cost effective, robust and achievable leakage policy and is in the process of developing a more detailed understanding of the optimum levels of leakage and cost implications which will ensure investment is targeted to those areas where active leakage control is proven to achieve operational and capital efficiencies. Scottish Water is developing information about leakage by District Metered Areas (DMAs) which will support the development of area-specific leakage policies. District metered areas are being established on 60% of the water network, and this includes Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire, Argyll and Bute, Dumfries and Galloway, Inverness, Fife and Dundee.In many of these areas, Scottish Water has already developed leakage policies. Leakage reduction projects are currently underway in Fife and Glasgow, with further projects planned in the Black Esk and Inverness. Other smaller leakage initiatives are planned as part of investment being carried out to improve drinking water quality.

I have asked Dr Jon Hargreaves, Chief Executive of Scottish Water to respond. His response is as follows:As part of its area water strategies, Scottish Water considers all options for an area and this includes the impact of reducing leakage. If these strategies indicate that leakage reduction is a viable option for reducing costs and improving services, then investment options which are being developed will include solutions to address leakage in that particular area.Scottish Water is also currently carrying out a comprehensive evaluation of the impact and scale of leakage which will provide detailed information for quantifying overall costs and evaluating the impact of leakage on operations, benchmarking performance against English and Welsh companies, and ensuring investment is targeted to those areas where active leakage control is proven to achieve operational and capital efficiencies.

I have asked Dr Jon Hargreaves, Chief Executive of Scottish Water to respond. His response is as follows:Most of Scottish Water's investment at this time is focussed on meeting statutory requirements for drinking water quality and sewage treatment and this investment would still be required regardless of water leakage levels. Leakage is considered as part of the overall strategies for providing water services to specific areas and if these strategies indicate that leakage reduction is a viable option for reducing costs and improving services, then investment options are developed to address leakage in that particular area.

I have asked Dr Jon Hargreaves, Chief Executive of Scottish Water to respond. His response is as follows:Due to the uncertainty of estimating current levels of leakage, Scottish Water is unable to confirm a leakage estimate that is as reliable as those in England and Wales. Scottish Water is currently carrying out a comprehensive evaluation of the impact and scale of leakage on the water network by area which will quantify the impact of leakage on operation costs, as well as benchmark performance against English and Welsh companies and allow for targeted investment in those areas where active leakage control is proven to achieve operational and capital efficiencies.

I have asked Dr Jon Hargreaves, Chief Executive of Scottish Water to respond. His response is as follows:Due to the uncertainty in estimating current levels of leakage in Scotland, Scottish Water is unable to confirm a leakage estimate that is as reliable as those in England and Wales, but the table shows leakage estimates for Scotland based on June 2002 assessments compared to those in England & Wales for the same period.

I have asked Dr Jon Hargreaves, Chief Executive of Scottish Water to respond. His response is as follows:While Scottish Water has reliable estimates of leakage and the impact on costs for certain areas, an overall estimate of the level of cost savings made by reducing leakage levels is not available at this time. Scottish Water is currently carrying out a comprehensive evaluation of the impact and scale of leakage on the water network by area which will quantify the impact of leakage on operation costs, as well as benchmark performance against English and Welsh companies and allow for targeted investment in those areas where active leakage control is proven to achieve operational and capital efficiencies. Any savings depends upon the cost to produce the water at a specific works as well as the capital and operating costs associated with reducing and maintaining leakage levels.

I have asked Dr Jon Hargreaves, Chief Executive of Scottish Water to respond. His response is as follows:While Scottish Water can provide information about those areas where development constraints exist due to the water and sewerage infrastructure, details are not held about delays in specific projects throughout Scotland due to these constraints.Scottish Water's investment priorities for 2002-06 were set by the quality and standards process and the main priority is to meet statutory requirements for drinking water quality and sewage treatment. The determined investment level only allows for "no deterioration" of the infrastructure and very limited funding is available to support development.Scottish Water is currently working with local authorities and other bodies to establish development priorities and evaluate where work can be serviced by the existing water and sewerage infrastructure. This information will also be used to identify future investment priorities in the next round of the quality and standards process.

The Water Industry Commissioner considered the operational efficiency of the three former water authorities compared to English and Welsh water and sewerage companies in his Cost and Performance report 2001-02 which may be found at:http://www.watercommissioner.co.uk/Costs%20and%20performance%202001-02.pdfThe Water Industry Commissioner will consider the operational efficiency of Scottish Water for the year 2002-03. He will publish his analysis in due course.