25th Apr 2006 13:01
UNITED UTILITIES ACHIEVES ITS ECONOMIC LEVEL OF LEAKAGE AT 31 MARCH 2006 United Utilities' regulated water business, United Utilities Water, announcestoday that, in line with its action plan as agreed with Ofwat, it has achievedits economic level of leakage (ELL) at 31 March 2006.The action plan aimed to reduce leakage by around 50 megalitres per day by theend of the 2005/06 financial year, to 470 megalitres per day. Meeting this spotleakage target at 31 March 2006 places the business in a strong position tosustain performance at around this level in order to achieve Ofwat's 12-monthrolling leakage target of 470 megalitres per day for 2006/07.The ELL is the level, approved by Ofwat, at which it would cost more to makefurther reductions in leakage than to extract water from other sources. Thisapproach helps to ensure that the total cost of supplying water is minimisedand that companies are operating efficiently to help ensure best value forcustomers and to protect the environment.The company will be spending around ‚£70 million on finding and fixing leaksover the next four years. This leakage expenditure is part of our total capitalprogramme, involving investing upwards of ‚£3 billion between 2005-10 in theNorth West.Chief Executive of United Utilities, Philip Green, said:"We're very pleased with the progress the business has made in achieving our 31March 2006 economic level of leakage. This puts us in an excellent position tomeet Ofwat's 12-month rolling leakage target in the coming year."Our reservoirs are around 95 per cent full, in line with expectations at thistime of year and we expect to maintain a healthy supply-demand balancethroughout the year, avoiding the need for water restrictions."United Utilities' Contacts:For further information please contact:Philip Green, Chief Executive +44 (0) 1925 237000Simon Batey, Finance Director +44 (0) 1925 237000Darren Jameson, Investor Relations Manager +44 (0) 7733 127707Evelyn Brodie, Corporate and Financial Communications +44 (0) 20 7307 0309United Utilities' ordinary trade on the London Stock Exchange and its ADRs,each equal to two ordinary shares, trade on the New York Stock Exchange underthe Trading Symbol "UU".ENDUNITED UTILITIES PLCRelated Shares:
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