Since a Thames Water executive called on people to flush their toilets less, an Oxford councillor has described the company's advice as “utterly laughable”.
A Thames Water executive has advised people to not always flush their toilets after they have taken a wee in order to help conserve the country’s water supply.
Cathryn Ross, a senior executive at the company, said today’s levels of water consumption were “unsustainable” and told the Times the public should look to shorten their showers and “not flush the loo every time”.
READ MORE: Met Office: Updated forecasts for Oxfordshire heatwave
Ms Ross has encouraged people to embrace the mantra of “if it’s yellow, let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down”.
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Chris Jarvis, a Green Party member and Oxford City Councillor, has criticised Ms Ross' advice and has said the “idea we should be taking lectures from Thames Water on this is utterly laughable”.
Mr Jarvis explained: “Research has shown that Thames Water’s infrastructure allows as much as 635 million litres of water to leak out of the system every single day.
“That’s where the real wastage lies and it is high time that private water companies stopped sitting on their hands and gave us a water system fit for the 21st century.”
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Previously, it has been reported that Thames Water leaks have been responsible for losing more than 600 million litres of water a day.
Speaking in August last year, Ms Ross acknowledged the leakage of water needed to be taken “seriously”.
She said: “We do understand people's concerns about leaks, and we know we absolutely need to do our bit.
“We are doing that - we are fixing more than 1100 leaks every week.
"Leakage will always be with us as we have 20,000 miles of pipes.
“But we do recognise, particularly with climate change and the shortage of water, we need to take leakage seriously.”
READ MORE: Thames Water CEO snubs Oxford City Council sewage meeting
Mr Jarvis has consistently argued that water firms need to be nationalised in order for them to provide a “decent service for the public that protects the planet”.
The average Briton is said to use around 142 litres a day and government advisors recently warned it is likely one in four households will have their water supply cut over an extended period due to drought over the course of the next thirty years.
Thames Water imposed a hosepipe ban in August last year and despite a mini heatwave in Oxfordshire next week now looking unlikely, Ms Ross has urged the public to cut back on using the hose during periods of warm weather.
The water companies regulator Ofwat has set companies targets to cut water consumption per person by a fifth by 2038, although most failed to meet these targets in 2021/22.
Thames Water has been approached for comment.
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Ed specialises in writing political stories for the Oxford Mail and The Oxford Times.
He joined in the team in February 2023, after completing a History undergraduate degree at the University of York and studying for his NCTJ diploma in London.
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