LONDON, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Three billion liters of drinking water are leaked every day in Britain, a committee of Members of Parliament (MPs) said in a parliamentary report Tuesday.
It adds up to more than a trillion liters of water being lost every year, the figures showed.
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has called for water meters in every home to be made compulsory as a way of saving water.
In its report on the regulation of the water industry, the politicians said water shortages of the type experienced in the summer 2018 will become more frequent and drought resilience will require increasing the supply of water alongside reducing demand.
The committee found that a shocking three billion liters of water are leaked every day and believes that water industry targets to reduce leakage by 15 percent by 2025 are not ambitious enough.
Committee chair Neil Parish said: "Water leaks affect the environment, as the more is leaked, the more must be taken from our rivers and other natural sources. It also sends a poor message to the public about the value of water when people are being encouraged to save water. Water companies should be leading by example. We are calling for the amount of water lost through leaks to be halved by 2040, ten years earlier than a current target."
The committee also heard there was strong evidence that water metering helps to reduce water use and detect when leaks are occurring. Currently, only water companies in designated water-stressed regions of Britain can make metering compulsory.
Parish added: "We need to move beyond a regional approach to water metering, because there is a national need to conserve water."
He said the committee has called on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to allow all water companies the power to implement compulsory metering.
The report has recommended the government to amend regulations by the end of 2019 to allow all water companies to implement compulsory metering, using smart meters.
