page_title: Water supply and sanitation in England and Wales
section_title: Policy and regulation
hierarchical_section_title: Water supply and sanitation in England and Wales / Responsibility for water supply and sanitation / Policy and regulation
caption_attribution_description: English: A view of the City of London Skyline from the 37th floor of a Canary Wharf skyscraper. Taken by myself with a Canon 5D and 24-105mm f/4L IS lens.
context_page_description: Public water supply and sanitation in England and Wales has been characterised by universal access and generally good service quality. Salient features of the sector in the United Kingdom compared to other developed countries is the full privatisation of service provision and the pioneering of independent economic regulation in the sector in Europe. There has been a substantial increase in real tariffs between 1989 and 2005, whilst independent assessments place the cost of water provision in the UK as higher than most other major countries in the EU. The government body responsible for water regulation, together with the water companies, have claimed improvements in service quality during the same period.
context_section_description: Within the government the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has the responsibility for policy in the water and sanitation sector. The economic regulator of water companies in England and Wales is the Water Services Regulation Authority, OFWAT. The Environment Agency is responsible for environmental regulation, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate for regulating drinking water quality. Drinking water standards and wastewater discharge standards in the U.K., as in other countries of the European Union, are determined by the EU (see EU water policy).
caption: Most of the population of London is served by Thames Water, one of 10 private regional water and sewerage companies in England
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