Mr Mathews said that Severn Trent would focus on the "single minded pursuit of continuous improvement".
Severn Trent says half of all leaks are fixed within the company's own three-day target.
On Friday, the company said it doubted the Severn Trent action would influence the takeover.
Severn Trent, which has more than 6, 000 employees, will consult from June for three months.
Severn Trent Water urged people not to panic and to do all they could to conserve water.
Severn Trent's water director, Andy Smith, said each water company had tended to focus on its own area.
BBC: South East latest part of England officially in drought
Tests by Severn Trent Water in Broadway last month showed discolouration and a change of taste in water.
BBC: Broadway water still unfit 10 days after problems arose
Severn Trent said it would pay an annual dividend of 61.45 pence, up 7.8% from its previous figure.
Birmingham-based Severn Trent said on Wednesday that it had probably missed targets for stemming leaks from its pipeline network.
Severn Trent said the pipe burst on Wednesday evening and staff had worked through the night to repair it.
Customer complaints fell for 10 companies, with Severn Trent seeing the biggest reduction.
Severn Trent said the difficulties were entirely down to the cold weather, which caused increased leakages during the winter.
This contract should have been put out to competitive tender under UK and European Union regulations, Severn Trent said.
Severn Trent's shares fell 1.6% to 1, 538 pence in morning trading in London, while Northumbrian Water's dipped 2.4% to 333p.
Workers at Severn Trent are being consulted over proposals for existing pensions to be replaced by one new defined contribution scheme.
The water company Severn Trent is raising money by offering an inflation-linked corporate bond to the public, rather than to professional investors.
He added that when he has attempted to call Severn Trent Water, the number advertised on various internet websites "does not even exist".
Water company Severn Trent plans to start legal action against Hyder, in a move which could disrupt the planned takeover by Western Power Distribution.
Severn Trent claims that WPD, the winner of the four-month takeover battle, plans to contract out some of Hyder's water services to United Utilities.
The Severn Trent spokeswoman said the firm was carrying out further tests and once the water quality has improved it would write to customers.
BBC: Powys water: Homes affected after burst pipe in Llandinam
In its preliminary annual results, Severn Trent reported that the number of unplanned interruptions to supply lasting longer than six hours had more than doubled.
IR Regarding possible structural changes in the water industry I explained to you that the current proposals for Glas Cymru were unlikely to be relevant to Severn Trent.
Water company Severn Trent says it is not their responsibility because the pipes are on private land, part of which is owned by a company called Primelife Plc.
Severn Trent said the problem affecting Ysgol Bro Ddyfi in Machnylleth was down to a burst pipe, and 45 people had phoned to complain that they had no water.
She said she arrived at the factory on Tuesday morning to find it 8in (20cm) deep in water and said Gedling Council and Severn Trent had been unable to help them.
Severn Trent said there were currently no restrictions and it had managed its way through the driest 18 months for 100 years by using innovative engineering and working closely with its customers.
The company said it was proposing to automatically enrol new employees into the new pension from 2012 and automatically enrol those workers not currently members of a Severn Trent scheme from 2013.
The day's other leading performers included BT - up 2.6% - and United Utilities, which rose 2.5% after an upgrade of the sector by Goldman Sachs and recent excitement surrounding the overseas bid interest in rival Severn Trent.
We had planned to have Severn Trent come and spread sewage cake on the land for maize, but this could not happen as they have decided for foot-and-mouth reasons not to go onto livestock farms before the end of June.
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