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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Business
Rebecca Speare-Cole

Water companies face biggest overhaul in a generation as new regulator unveiled

South East Water customers collect bottled water at a water station in East Grinstead, after bad weather was blamed for more water outages in Kent and parts of Sussex. Picture date: Tuesday January 13, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire - (PA)

Water companies will be compelled to conduct mandatory "MOTs" on their infrastructure as part of a sweeping government overhaul designed to prevent major failures.

Ministers are set to unveil these significant reforms in Parliament, which will see the current industry regulator, Ofwat, abolished. Its responsibilities, alongside those of three other overlapping oversight bodies, will be consolidated into a single, powerful new watchdog.

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