December 2016
Water companies protect both the environment and the public by providing high quality water and sanitation services – and it is now much easier to track and compare their performance.
The water sector has launched comparative data on Discover Water – an online dashboard where you can see how companies across England and Wales are performing across a range of metrics, including the Environment Agency’s annual Environmental Protection Assessments and bathing water quality results.
You may remember the initial launch of Discover Water that we announced back in July. This month's 'phase 2' launch included the addition of company-specific information on the website. We hope the dashboard will prove to be a good point of engagement with water companies for both consumers and stakeholders.Customers can now analyse their water company's performance on a variety of metrics across Discover Water, including environmental matters such as sewer flooding and emissions, as well as broader topics such as billing and customer service. The data is largely presented through bar charts as we felt this was the most clear and honest way to provide the details.
Discover Water has been created for consumers by a water sector collaborative, not just water companies. The companies funded the dashboard, but decisions on design and content were taken by a steering group made up of:
We hope that the presence of these governmental and regulatory bodies on the steering group will provide confidence for consumers and stakeholders that the data on Discover Water is robust and clear. It is designed to increase transparency and to make it as easy as possible for users to find the information they are looking for.
I hope you find Discover Water interesting and useful. Please have a look and let me know what you think.
Neil Dhot, Head of Corporate Affairs, Water UK
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