A highlight of the Water Equity Summit at the Hosanna House this spring was the panel presenting the campaign to approve a Customer Advisory Council at the Wilkinsburg Penn Joint Water Authority, A key recommendation from the Summit is to use Citizen Advisory Boards to improve equitable access to quality water and ratepayer/agency relations.
This is one approach among many that the new Government of the United Kingdom is proposing to reform its Water Sector. In July its Office of Water Services (Ofwat) has proposed a series of steps to cut back on illegal sewage discharges to the waters of the Kingdom.
A couple highlights of the proposals:
- Water companies will place customers and the environment at the heart of their objectives. Companies have agreed to change their ‘Articles of Association’ – the rules governing each company – to make the interests of customers and the environment a primary objective.
- Consumers will gain new powers to hold water company bosses to account through powerful new customer panels. For the first time in history, customers will have the power to summon board members and hold water executives to account.
