Two events at the end of the 1980s prompted the establishment of the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI)-privatisation of the water industry in 1989 and the serious contamination of drinking water that occurred in Camelford, Cornwall in 1988. Michael Rouse, chief inspector of DWI, explains how the inspectorate has worked to improve the quality of our drinking water.DWI was formed in 1990 following the privatization of the water industry. Along with the other two regulatory bodies; OFWAT and the National Rivers Authority (now the Environment Agency); DWI operates as an independent inspectorate with all regulatory aspects delegated from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs (DEFRA) and the National Assembly for Wales to the chief inspector. The decision to delegate regulatory powers to DWI was instigated by the previous government and upheld by the present government so that regulatory decisions are taken on a wholly technical or legal basis.It is the responsibility of DWI to achieve the effective and fair regulation of water companies. To help achieve this the organization has adopted a total quality, continuous improvement approach to meet the substance and the spirit of its 'code for enforcement'. The code defines the manner and speed with which DWI deals with water companies, consumers and others. Having established what the customers want DEI work to narrow the gap between expectation and delivery. While procedures are prepared to ISO 9000 standard, the DEI has not sought to get the badge, as this can direct attention away from meeting the real objective of improved customer satisfaction. DEI measures its performance against its code and also obtains direct feedback from consumers and others.
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