Water Act 2014
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
The Water Act 2014 received Royal Assent in May 2014. It amended the Water Industry Act 1991 and also introduced changes to other legislation. It was seen as a major development for companies operating within the industry and for commercial water customers.
The aim of the Act was to reform the water industry to make it more innovative and responsive to customers and to increase the resilience of water supplies to natural hazards such as droughts and floods. The Act was intended to introduce competition into the market and bring benefits to businesses and the economy.
The Act applies to England and Wales, with some provisions also applying in Scotland.
[edit] Structure
The Water Act 2014 is split into six parts, 95 sections and 12 schedules. The six parts are:
- Part 1: Water industry.
- Part 2: Water resources.
- Part 3: Environmental regulation.
- Part 4: Flood insurance.
- Part 5: Miscellaneous.
- Part 6: General and final.
[edit] Key points
The Act made provisions to:
- Enable businesses, charities and public sector customers to switch water suppliers from 2017.
- Establish a cross-border agreement with Scotland.
- Help to address the growing pressure on water resources by making supply more resilient through new companies offering new sources of water.
- Help to link the national water network, by facilitating the process for water companies to buy and sell water from each other.
- Enable small-scale water storage owners to sell excess water into the public supply.
- Increase competition and encourage new companies into the market who can offer alternative sources of water or innovative ways of treating sewerage.
- Enable ministers to define the level at which a water company is required to plan to deal with droughts.
- Ensure households in the highest flood risk areas are entitled to affordable flood insurance from 2015.
- Enable developers and any new water or sewage companies to connect new building developments to the water mains and sewage system.
- Improve regulations that relate to the merger of water sewage undertakers.
- Emphasise the role of Ofwat and give them an over-arching role to consider long-term resilience and changes to improve regulation of the water industry.
- Provide measures to restore sustainable abstraction of water and the encouragement for the use of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS).
The Stationary Office published a guidance document to accompany the Water Act 2014 which is available to download.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Catchment flood management plans.
- Environment Agency.
- Flood and water management act.
- Flood insurance.
- Flood risk.
- Natura 2000 network.
- Ofwat.
- River engineering.
- Sustainable urban drainage systems.
- The State of the Environment: Water Resources.
- Upstream.
- Water conservation.
- Water consumption.
- Water Industry Act 1991.
- Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002.
- Watercourse.
- Water engineering.
- Water framework directive.
- What the new retail market will mean for the water sector.
[edit] External references
Featured articles and news
Heat pump announcements, what homeowners need to know
An 'ultimate guide to heat pumps' from a heating company.
Construction contract awards reach £7.1bn in February
Their highest level in seven months.
The journey to sustainability in heritage
Research is the key to better understanding.
Heritage approaches to adaptation, mitigation and loss.
Bridging the gap between policy, finance and installation.
Development on brownfield land
Definition, background, policy and the latest consultation.
With the Design Framework for Building Services.
Retrofit of Buildings, a CIOB Technical Publication
Pertinent technical issues, measures and the roles involved.
ECA joins HSE campaign to support mental health
Working Minds’ five simple steps based on risk assessment.
Mental health in the construction industry
Mental health issues in brief with related articles.
Transitional arrangements, Building Control and the BSR.
For pre-October buildings with substantial progress by April.
How to write an inspection and test plan
ITPs for quality control and assurance particular elements.
Why quality counts in domestic ventilation systems
From products, to systems to the installation.
Empowering the Future with CIOB Academy
Lifelong learning, upscaling, and reskilling for the built environment.
Winners of the 2024 ASBP Awards
Project, Product and Initiative according to the 6 pillars.