A watery form of sustainability

Regulation has been the most important driver in encouraging the water industry to move towards sustainability, but increasingly the appropriateness and effectiveness of regulation are being questioned. It is argued that, in its present form, sustainability as presented and supported through regulation equates to a form of weak sustainability that privileges the economic and subordinates the environment and societal spheres of sustainability. To overcome this, requires more long‐term perspectives, participatory mechanisms and moves beyond efficiency to intensity of resource use.