New analysis from the Labour Party has revealed that the amount of water leaked from the under-funded system in Yorkshire would supply 26 electric showers every day for every household.
Water UK figures show that over the last 3 years, 130 litres of water per household have been wasted across Yorkshire every day because of leaky pipes across the water network.
That is the equivalent of almost three washing machine cycles of wasted water every day for every Yorkshire household, demonstrating the scale of the UK’s water leak crisis.
While water companies are installing hosepipe bans on British households, this new analysis demonstrates that leaks from an under-funded water system is a huge contributor to the water shortage.
John Healey said: “The poor planning and neglect of vital infrastructure by the Conservatives has forced our water system to breaking point.
“We live in a country that experiences plenty of rain throughout non-summer months and we shouldn’t have to rely on hosepipe bans to get us through drier months.
“A lack of investment by water companies across the network has caused leaks on an industrial scale. If the water companies got their own house in order, then maybe they wouldn’t need to impose bans on people across Rotherham and Barnsley.
“The Government needs to get a grip of the problem and work with water companies to avoid further disruption in the future.”
Across the country 21.7 billion litres of water is lost every week.
That amount would water gardens three times the size of the Isle of Wight, for a week.