Ofwat - meeting the demand for water

Book excerpt: The Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) is the economic regulator of the supply and demand for water in England and Wales. Its broad purpose is to regulate in a way that enables companies to secure sustainable supplies at the lowest cost to the consumer. To achieve this it aims to collect relevant and reliable information to underpin its regulatory decisions, provide incentives for water companies to meet future demands and take appropriate enforcement action if companies do not respond to Ofwat's incentives. This NAO report finds that Ofwat has secured better data on the amount of water leaking from water companies' systems, but calculations of leakage still depend on estimates of consumption, and there is a lack of reliable evidence regarding the results of water efficiency projects that seek to help consumers waste less water. Recommendations include that Ofwat should: assess companies' progress on water efficiency on the basis of the quality of the project, its costs, and the water it saves, as well as the number of consumers reached; and build on its current approach and press for a long term and sustainable approach to leakage management.