19 November 2007
Most water firms have fulfilled industry service requirements over the past year, regulator Ofwat has announced.
The watchdog has released its latest Levels of Service report, which also details where water providers have "fallen short" in their treatment of customers.
Southern Water, Severn Trent Water and South East Water are the most heavily criticised in the report, which covers the 2006/07 period.
Ofwat says that it has also made a number of company-specific investigations over the past year, setting targets for the provider in question to fulfil in future.
Director of Consumer Protection at the regulator Andrew Dunn said: "Customers are reaping the benefits of regulatory pressure brought by Ofwat and the actions of the companies over many years.
"We expect these high standards to be maintained and will not shy away from taking appropriate action where they are not."
The water watchdog made the headlines last week with its £20 million fine for Southern Water, due to poor customer service.
Following an investigation, Ofwat also found that the firm had been deliberately misreporting its service performance information prior to 2005 and had also falsely inflated water bills in the region as a result.
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