Water company bosses have been showered with cash over the past three years, it has emerged, as hosepipe bans loom in Britain.
The top 12 UK water firm chiefs are said to have taken home £50million between them, despite leaking billions of litres of water each day.
The bulging pay packets were revealed as millions of Britons face water use clampdowns amid record high temperatures and the driest July since 1911.
The highest paid chief executive is Severn Trent ’s Liv Garfield, who received £9.8million over the past three years, according to a Mail on Sunday probe.
She is followed by United Utilities’ Steve Mogford, said to have made £9m.
Thames Water reportedly paid its former chief Steve Robertson and his replacement Sarah Bentley a total of £3.4m. Southern Water, which is implementing the first hosepipe bans in 12 years in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight next week, was also said to be among the firms spraying cash at its bosses.
Customers affected will be banned temporarily from using hosepipes to water gardens or clean cars, while ornamental ponds and swimming pools must not be filled.
However experts have called for hosepipe bans to be implemented nationwide as the UK faces a drought.
They also called for £20billion of investment in water infrastructure to plug leaks and safeguard supplies.
The National Infrastructure Committee warned the action is needed to avoid a future of collecting emergency bottled water “from the back of lorries”.
NIC chairman Sir John Armitt said: “You have to pay for (water), one way or another. That could be investing in new reservoirs or moving water around the country, as well as stopping leaks.”
The NIC’s call was backed by the Rivers Trust, which attended an emergency National Drought Group meeting last week.
Mark Lloyd, of the Trust, said: “There needs to be a nationally coordinated publicity campaign to reduce water use, and universal water metering.”
Mark Owen, of the Angling Trust, said: “We need to see (hosepipe) bans brought in proactively in many more places.”
A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “We’re committed to reducing leakage by 15% by 2025 – the biggest reduction ever in a five-year period. We’re already making good progress, such as investment in drone technology to detect leaks.”
Southern Water added: “Preparing for water scarcity is something we take extremely seriously as part of achieving a resilient water future.
“We are investing £2billion between 2020 and 2025 to improve our network, which includes 14,500km of drinking water pipelines. This money is being spent fixing, upgrading, and expanding our network of pipes, pumping stations and sewers.”
Last week The Times revealed water companies in England alone are leaking almost 2.4 billion litres of water a day, nearly a quarter of their supply.
