Last winter was the coldest on record and the freezing conditions caused pipes to burst at an alarming rate.

Despite heavy snow for an extended period, our staff were able to ensure supplies to customers were maintained and we suffered no serious supply losses.

A £20 million leak reduction programme launched in 2010/11 helped us repair record number of leaks – more than 22,000 - across our 13,690km of water mains.

Initiatives included increasing the number of leak repair staff by more than 50 per cent to more than 180 and repairing 52km of water mains.

In April 2011, we launched the second year of our leak reduction programme and have invested a further £20 million.

Year two of the programme will see:

• One hundred kilometres of water mains replaced across the region.

• More than 100,000 water metres fitted to properties as part of our metering programme. Meters with leak alarms will be installed in the majority of homes in the South East from 2010 to 2015. The alarms, activated when water runs continuously through the meter over 24 hours, are expected to save up to five million litres of water per day.

• A pressure management programme to stabilise pressure in water mains, which will reduce the risk of bursts and leaks.

• We are also accelerating our resource development plans to ensure supplies for our customers. This included the £12 million construction of a reservoir on the River Arun, West Sussex, which will help provide water in times of drought.

Managing leaks is a top priority for us. It’s impossible to detect and fix every leak in such a vast and complex network of pipes but we do all we can to ensure that as little as possible is lost.

We want to work in partnership with our customers and would ask them to call our freephone leakline on 0800 820 999 when they spot what could be a leak.  In 2010/11, 23,549 people called the leakline and we thank them for their help in plugging leaks. Southern Water’s leakage target 2010/11 was one of the toughest in the industry.