The "shocking" amount of water wasted by Southern Water on the Isle of Wight is "unacceptable", two of the Island's leading political figures have said.
Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely and Labour's Richard Quigley have been reacting to findings published by Isle of Wight Radio earlier this week.
The data was taken from between May to August — the months before Islanders were banned from using their hosepipes and told to preserve water.
Commenting on the figures, Isle of Wight councillor Richard Quigley said:
"Island residents should be rightly shocked at the level of water leaks Isle of Wight Radio has uncovered. We have all followed the hosepipe ban to reduce usage through the summer, but it appears Southern Water can't do the same.
"And despite constant reassurance from Bob Seely that he is "sorting" the sewage being pumped into our seas, we see near daily alerts advising of sewage outfalls.
"Southern Water needs to get a grip of its business and concentrate on providing a proper level of service, rather than wringing every last drop of profit from customers."
In a statement to Isle of Wight Radio, Island MP Bob Seely said:
“These figures are not acceptable. That is why the Government has put in place a ground-breaking Environment Act to ensure that we have much higher environmental standards in the future."
“On the Island, we’ve persuaded Southern Water to introduce their most ambitious project nationally to improve the Islands drainage and sewage systems.
"The Council and I also secured Southern Water’s commitment to establish a set of best practices on the Island for both reducing sewage emissions and water efficiency and I have previously persuaded Southern Water to carry out repairs on their pipes in Seaview.
“I am awaiting an update on the timescale for investment from Southern Water’s pathfinder project. As soon as I know more, I will share it with Islanders."
Southern Water blamed its high level of wastage on an increase in customer demand, and the impact of hot weather on its pipes.
It said it expects leaks and bursts to reduce as temperatures get cooler.
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