EFFORTS to reduce the amount of water wasted through leakages have resulted in Anglian Water beating its targets this year, figures revealed today.

During 2011/12, the firm lost on average 199 million litres every day – the equivalent to letting Alton Water reservoir run dry every seven weeks.

However, the figure surpasses the target rate set of 212 million, set by industry regulator Ofwat, and represents a reduction of six per cent.

During 2010/11, Anglian Water missed its target for the first time in more than ten years, losing 230 million litres a day.

Earlier this year the firm the firm told The Star it had made a “conscious decision” to concentrate on ensuring customers had water, rather than hitting targets, when temperatures plummeted during the particularly cold winter months.

A spokesman for Anglian Water said “huge efforts” had been made to bring leakage rates down.

“We were hugely disappointed to miss our leakage target in the previous year, up to Spring 2011. It was the first time we had missed it in more than ten years, so we’re very pleased to have turned that situation around.

“Nevertheless, we recognise that a great deal of water is still lost in this way and, while some leakage is inevitable with 40,000 km of pipes, we are constantly striving to reduce water lost by finding and fixing leaks as soon as possible.”

Last year the firm spent �14million tackling the problem, recruiting more than 60 specialist technicians.

The spokesman urged residents to ensure pipes are properly insulated before winter. He said: “We’ve seen some real extremes of weather in the last few years, and who knows what this winter is going to bring.

“It might seem early to be thinking about it but we’d urge all our customers to make sure their pipes are properly insulated and their water supply is protected from freezing, before the cold weather arrives.”

The company’s target for this year – 2012/13 – is 211 million litres each day.