Public told to cut water use as Steve Reed warns water bosses they could face prison for polluting rivers

Households are to be urged to cut the amount of water they use by a fifth as Labour pledges to clean up Britain’s rivers, lakes and seas “once and for all”.

Strategies include having shorter showers and fewer baths, as well as putting bricks in toilet cisterns to cut consumption.

More than nine in 10 people think they use “vastly” less water than they do, the environment secretary Steve Reed said.

The comments came as he used a speech to tell an invited group of water bosses that new laws will mean they face prison if they continue to pump filth into Britain’s lakes and rivers.

However, he ruled out nationalising the sector, warning it would cost billions and make the sewage problem worse in the short term.

He pledged that the government would reform the UK’s creaking water system, much of it dating from the Victorian era.

Mr Reed outlined plans for a review of the system, which experts have warned will cost billions to bring up to date.

He would not be drawn on when the job would be complete, saying he would need to wait for the outcome of the review.

But he said: “This is our opportunity to make sure our children and their children have the chance to create those same wonderful memories – splash about in our lakes, roll on our rivers, or spot a kingfisher on a summer’s day. This is our opportunity to clean up our water once and for all.”

Mr Reed denied that reducing water consumption would see the public told how much they could use.

He told journalists: “It would see people being given the information they need to take decisions for themselves.

“When you talk to people about the amount of water they use, 94 per cent of us think we use vastly less than we actually do.”

When it comes to reforming the sector, he said government reforms will unlock the biggest private sector investment in its history. The money would help to build nine new reservoirs, nearly 5,000 miles (8,000km) of water main pipes and upgrades to 2,500 storm overflows.

“Firmer action should have been taken over the last 14 years to ensure money was spent on fixing the water and sewage system and not siphoned off for bonuses and dividend payments,” he said in his speech.

“I am angry that over a decade of Conservative failure means customers will now have to pay higher bills to fix the system. This did not need to happen.”

He called the new Bill a “down payment” on the wider reforms that are needed after years of failure and environmental damage.

“It will unlock the biggest ever investment in our water sector and the second biggest private sector investment into any part of the economy for the entirety of this parliament,” he said.

The crackdown on water bosses will be included in the new Water (Special Measures) Bill to end sewage and other pollutants being pumped into the country’s waterways.

Included is the loss of bonuses, potential prison sentences for industry executives and a duty for the water companies to pay the cost of enforcement.