Major Water Regulation Shake-Up In UK
With serious water pollution events up 60% in England, the government has recognized a need for an overhaul of the flawed regulation system. The previous regulator, Ofwat, will be scrapped and replaced. The move comes amid growing outrage over sewage pollution, outdated infrastructure, and a lack of accountability from privatized water companies.
Of the 2,801 pollution incidents in England in 2024, 75 were considered a serious threat to fisheries, drinking water, and human health. The Public Accounts committee called out regulators for being “missing in action” when it comes to holding the industry accountable.
England’s combined sewer system is partially to blame for the overwhelmed infrastructure. In 2024, water companies released raw sewage into waterways for 3.61 million hours. With the combined sewer system, both rainwater and wastewater are carried in the same pipes — meaning that, during heavy rainfall events, the infrastructure can become easily overwhelmed.
Replacing Ofwat will be a new single watchdog that will “prevent the abuses of the past.” The Water Commission is pushing to reform “operator self-monitoring” — in which water companies monitor and report their own pollution incidents, with no oversight. Some campaigners have described this as “water companies marking their own homework.”
So what will these changes mean for residents’ water bills? Jon Cunliffe, head of the Water Commission, warned of potential burden on households. Cunliffe has repeatedly said that underinvestment in water infrastructure for years now requires “massive funding” to catch back up. To offset the burden, Cunliffe recommends introducing smart meters — which would charge households for the water they use, rather than paying a flat fee.
Environment secretary Steve Reed said, “In the biggest overhaul of water regulation in a generation, we will bring water functions from four different regulators into one,” per The Guardian.
For now, residents wait for more information about the new watchdog. But there are no quick fixes, and as Cunliffe warns: “There is no single, simple change, no matter how radical, that will reset the water sector and restore the trust that has been lost.”