Water regulator Ofwat has launched a regulatory probe into South West Water, aiming to examine the accuracy of the company’s reported leakage data.

This investigation comes as part of the ongoing scrutiny of water companies’ performance against regulatory targets.

Companies in the water industry are annually assessed against performance targets set by Ofwat, with potential penalties or rewards based on their achievements.

Leakage and per capita consumption are key areas evaluated in these assessments.

In November 2022, Ofwat deferred a decision on South West Water’s progress towards its leakage performance commitment.

The regulator sought clarification on the methodology used by the company to calculate its reported performance before reaching a conclusion.

David Black, Chief Executive Officer of Ofwat, stated: “We are committed to holding companies to account for performance and for sharing timely, accurate and complete data with us and their customers. We want to ensure that is the case here.”

A South West Water spokesperson told ELN: “It’s important our customers have confidence in our data. That’s why we rigorously check our data which is externally audited by an independent third party. We will of course provide any information the regulator requests and we will fully cooperate.”