i2O Water Blog | Public Policy & Regulation

September 28, 2020

Must do more

Water companies around the world are being asked to do more.

July 13, 2020

England will run out of water within 20 years

Foreigners think it always rains in the UK and they know it’s a group of islands surrounded by water, so this news may come as a surprise.

December 16, 2019

Transforming water networks in 42 countries

i2O’s intelligent network solutions are now used in 42 countries in the world. The latest is Malawi in Africa. i2O already has solutions functioning in one of the highest altitude cities in the world, La Paz in Bolivia, and the world’s southernmost city of Ushaia in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.

September 6, 2019

i2O makes data ingress easier for clients

Thanks to its advanced data ingress capabilities, iNet unifies the format of data obtained by any data logging systems used by water companies.

August 19, 2019

i2O is on top of the world

This week i2O installed loggers in La Paz, Bolivia. At 3,640m above sea level it is the highest altitude city in the world. And that’s not the only extreme environment that i2O’s equipment works in.

August 16, 2019

i2O passes quality audits with flying colours

i2O is pleased to announce that it has passed its quality assurance audits with flying colours. i2O has quality, environment and security ISO accreditations 14001, 9001 and 27001.

March 27, 2019

Smoke gets in your eyes

In most foreigners’ minds, England is a place where it rains quite a lot. But Sir James Bevan, CEO of the Environment Agency has warned that England could run short of water within 25 years. His language was dramatic. England faces an "existential threat", and in around 20 to 25 years, England will reach the "jaws of death” - the point at which we will not have enough water to supply our needs.

October 16, 2017

Lessons from the sewers

In 1775, London watchmaker Alexander Cumming patented the S-bend. It was a beautifully simple solution to containing sewer smells in the sewer.

August 30, 2017

The politics of water

Water and Politics: Clientelism and Reform in Urban Mexico is the title of a new book by Veronica Herrera, assistant professor of political science at the University of Connecticut. At $75 it’s not cheap; it’s not exactly a thriller; and 8 cities in Mexico may not be a large enough sample size. But the book considers an interesting question: the impact of electoral cycles on improvements in public services. Veronica finds that:

July 17, 2017

The Water Court of Valencia

Eight men in black robes meet every Thursday at noon sitting in a circle on chairs in the street outside a cathedral. They are the Water Court of Valencia. According to the Times of India the Court has been in existence for 1,000 years. It’s an elected body who resolve irrigation conflicts in an agricultural area of Spain. Not perhaps a very modern model for regulation of scarce resources, but a democratic one at least.

April 18, 2017

i2O prices down, water tariffs up

While i2O is busy reducing its prices, some water utilities are putting prices up. That’s not always going down well.

February 27, 2017

News OfWat’s going on

Every 5 years, the UK water regulator Ofwat does a price review which sets limits on charging and sets expectations about what customers get for those prices. The next price review will be in 2019, known as “PR19”. The timetable includes a final methodology statement from Ofwat by the end of 2017, and UK water companies submitting their business plans by September 2018 for review by Ofwat, so the industry is already gearing up for the process.

January 30, 2017

Water: spiralling cost or drop in the ocean?

Water UK reports that the average household water and sewerage bill in England and Wales for 2016-17 will be £389 - an increase of £2 (less than 1%) compared with the previous year. Despite this small increase, water and sewerage companies will deliver a 5% average drop in real terms in prices between 2015 and 2020.

January 23, 2017

Corruption in the Water Sector

Transparency International says that corruption in the water sector is widespread because infrastructure projects are large, expensive and complex and provide opportunities for abuse in procurement and contracts.

January 9, 2017

A new era for Water under Trump?

Water Technology Executive Jim Lauria has made an impassioned plea in An Open Letter to President-Elect Trump On Water.

October 31, 2016

PPK's ambitious plans for water in Peru

Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Godard, better known as "PPK", became President of Peru in July this year.

October 19, 2016

Save water: swap grass for gravel

Turf Terminators of California, USA allows residents to utilise water conservation rebates for turf removal. Rebates of $3.75 per square foot are available to Los Angeles residents for turf removal, the theory being that grass needs to be watered and without it water usage decreases markedly.

September 19, 2016

Will competition in water retail in the UK achieve its objectives?

Ofwat, the UK’s water regulator, has announced plans for greater competition in the UK water market. They hope that it will be a driver of improved customer service, noting, for example, that “only two of the water companies in England let their customers manage their bills using an app".

August 15, 2016

Decongestion charge

The UK Local Government Association has called on the national Government to give more powers to local authorities to charge utility companies for the time they spend digging up busy roads. Today only authorities in London and one county in the South East of England can do so without having to get government approval first.