Off With Your Ofwat

 

Ofwat was set up, at the time of establishing England and Wales' privatised water companies. It was supposed to ensure that the companies took their responsibilities seriously. Many people actually feel Ofwat was part of a cosy cartel encouraging cultures of underinvestment in essential infrastructure combined with gross financial mismanagement. It's now reported that the UK government will follow its commission's  recommendation to simply abolish Ofwat. A new body, for England and Wales, combining the water/sewage responsibilities of Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and the Environmental Agency will be created. Perhaps it will prove more effective in dealing with the companies than its predecessor. Climate change, urbanisation, proposed establishment of water-hungry datacentres, and population growth, all mean that there's now a very urgent need to 'futureproof' potable water provision for homes, industry and agriculture. The disposal of sewage also needs to be greatly improved to protect the environment. None of this will be cheap! Costs to end-users wouldn't have been so great, if these changes had been funded by these monopolies decades ago, rather than frittered away in bonuses and inflated share dividends. The end-user will, unfortunately, have to pay again. Folk  won't be happy.