The boss of Thames Water, Chris Weston, has declared that the company's targets for things like leakages are 'not realistic' - a statement that might carry more weight if the company hadn't already demonstrated such remarkable realism in actually leaking 570 million litres of treated water every single day.

Thames Water, which serves 16 million customers across London and parts of southern England, has been criticised for sewage discharges and leaks, and was fined a record £122.7m by regulator Ofwat last year, mostly for breaching sewage spill rules. Speaking to the BBC's Big Boss Interview podcast, Weston said the company treats 4.3 billion litres of waste daily and succeeds '99.5% of the time,' but admitted: 'We want to do better when it comes to pollutions.' However, he added that targets on leakage are 'so far in excess of what we are capable of doing, I think anyone would be capable of doing, however much money you invested, that it is not going to be achievable.' The chance of reaching zero pollution, he said, was 'very, very slim.'

Ofwat responded with the kind of dry understatement regulators specialise in: 'With around a fifth of water put into supply still lost through leakage, companies must deliver on the commitments they have been funded to achieve.' The Environment Agency chimed in that it 'expects Thames Water to comply with the law,' while River Action CEO James Wallace was less diplomatic, calling Thames' tactics 'opacity and deflection' and pointing out the sheer chutzpah of telling the public to save water while the company leaks 570 million litres a day.

Thames has been drowning in billions of pounds of debt for years and faces possible temporary nationalisation via a special administration regime. Weston opposes that, warning that taxpayers might end up footing the bill, and instead backs a rescue deal from creditors that would write off about £9bn of debt, inject new investment, and give the government a 'golden share' with veto powers over major decisions.

Meanwhile, Weston's own pay rose 14% to £1.163m in the year to March, while other directors pocketed £4.1m in bonuses - all as the company warns it could run out of money by November. Weston defended the pay as necessary to 'attract and retain talent,' because nothing says talent like overseeing a company that leaks enough water to fill a swimming pool every 10 seconds. He also acknowledged public anger but said it sometimes goes too far, noting that staff face physical assaults and verbal abuse. 'None of that is acceptable,' he said, presumably while standing in a puddle.

The interview aired during a week when more than half of England and all of Wales were declared in drought. Weston admitted the UK has been 'complacent' about water and called for more reservoirs, because when you're already leaking billions of litres, the obvious solution is to store more water so you can leak even more.