Speaking at the Water UK Innovation Hub yesterday, Ross called on water companies to take a services and systems-based approach to resilience, rather than focusing just on kit and the network.
She said: “Those who provide our water and wastewater services on which we all rely are being encouraged to think broadly about the resilience of those services over the long term and about resilience of the entire system – yes pipes, and other bits of kit, but also ecosystems – that underpins that.”
Ross told delegates that taking a wider, more flexible and innovative approach to building resilience would help build “trust and confidence” in the companies and the sector – something which underpins Ofwat’s current strategy.
She added that the companies should “take ownership” of resilience as an outcome and ensure they deliver something that “reflects expectations of customers and society”.
She said Ofwat would not set “universal targets or regulatory requirements” on the companies, claiming this would end up “whittling away the responsibility that sits with companies to do the right thing for their customers – now and over the long term”.
The call follows comments Ross made in March, where she urged the sector to see wastewater “as a “genuinely useful resource” rather than something that is a problem and needs to be disposed of.