It covers consumer, environmental, regulatory and health subjects. Set up in February 1994, it has played an important role in promoting debate about the water industry and exposed a number of problems and shortcomings. Why Water Is Special Water is not a commodity and the water industry is unlike any other utility. Water is necessary to all life. It is finite, and the process of taking it for public supply, industry, agriculture or leisure has an immediate impact on the environment.
Water is essential for public health.
Everyone benefits from the provision of clean water and safe and effective treatment and disposal of sewage, irrespective of how much we use ourselves. WaterWatch believes that the water industry and its regulation should be treated differently to other utilities. Too often, water customers, environmentalists and the media, tell us that speaking to one or other of the regulators is like talking to the water companies themselves. As the only voluntary group covering all water issues WaterWatch is unique. The broad base of its membership with its wide range of interests and expertise is the strength on which WaterWatch is based.