06 Mar 2025
United Utilities (UU) is set to confirm a reduction in the number and duration of storm overflow operations across the North West last year, when official figures are released by the Environment Agency (EA) later this month. In the Windermere catchment, the company’s annual event duration monitoring (EDM) submission to the EA records a 28% […]
27 Feb 2025
In December, sector regulator Ofwat said it would allow water firms to raise bills by an average of £157, or 36%, over the next five years to help finance investment into crumbling infrastructure. However, now six water firms – Thames Water, Southern Water, Anglian Water, South East Water, Northumbrian Water and Wessex Water – have […]
27 Feb 2025
The Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 has received Royal Assent, boosting the powers of water sector regulators to tackle pollution. This new legislation introduces enhanced powers for regulators to hold water companies accountable for their environmental impact, with particular focus on ensuring water company executives are penalised for failures. The Water (Special Measures) Act, which […]
06 Feb 2025
A new research article in Nature highlights “widespread tactics of disinformation, greenwashing and manufacturing doubt…” used by water companies. It argues that “the financial exploitation of water resources in England, alongside long-term degradation of infrastructure and ineffective regulation, raises globally important issues around water security, ethics and environmental stewardship. Much greater scrutiny of both industry […]
08 Jan 2025
Campaign group 38 Degrees is encouraging people to share their views on sewage by participating in a consultation that was covered in this newsletter before Christmas and relates to the Public Bill Committee, which has asked for written evidence on the Water (Special Measures) Bill by Thursday 16 January. Photo credit: Karen Laårk Boshoff […]
31 Dec 2024
The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has concluded that there have been failures to comply with environmental law by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Environment Agency (EA) and Ofwat following an investigation into the regulation of network combined sewer overflows (CSOs). The OEP has sent each of the public authorities […]
11 Dec 2024
The BBC reports that water companies are planning to build a pipeline network to move treated sewage away from conservation areas and into rivers, lakes and seas which do not have the same legal protection. Photo credit: Gavin Young The work will be funded by customers and the water regulator, Ofwat, has provisionally […]
06 Nov 2024
A report by sustainability think tank the Institute for European Environmental Policy UK (IEEP UK) looks at the implications of diverging wastewater policy between the UK and the EU. Photo credit: Joseph Russo EU law concerning collection and treatment of wastewater (sewage) has been dominated by the 1991 Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. […]
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