17 Jul 2024
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has written to water companies urging them to ‘be open’ about sewage spills and calling on companies to be as transparent as possible with customers about waste discharges into rivers. The ICO is a non-departmental public body which reports directly to Parliament and is sponsored by the Department for Science, […]
11 Jul 2024
New Environment Secretary Steve Reed has announced a series of initial steps towards ending the crisis in the water sector. He has today announced: He has written to Ofwat to ask them to make sure funding for vital infrastructure investment is ringfenced and can only be spent on upgrades benefiting customers and the environment. He […]
11 Jul 2024
Ofwat has published its draft determinations for English and Welsh water companies, allowing a spending package of £88bn over the next 5 years, £16bn less than proposed by companies in their business plans. Ofwat’s headlines Investment of £10bn to tackle storm overflows with a target to reduce spills from storm overflows by 44% from levels […]
10 Jul 2024
According to The Guardian, the prime minister and chancellor have been briefed by Whitehall officials that the poor state of Thames Water presents a “critical risk” to the country. Fears about the company go beyond its precarious financial position and include the management of sites that provide drinking water and sewage treatment for millions of […]
19 Jun 2024
Ofwat has published an updated timetable and key milestones for its 2024 price determination (PR24), after the general election necessitated a delay due to purdah rules. The regulator said it would endeavour to issue final determinations on 19 December, but that it was exploring the option of extending this until 31 January at the latest. […]
19 Jun 2024
A recent BBC explainer looks at the evidence around so-called ‘dry spills’, claiming that “every major English water company has reported data suggesting they’ve discharged raw sewage when the weather is dry – a practice which is potentially illegal.” Anglian Water responded by publishing De-mystifying dry day spills, rejecting the claims and ‘citing flawed methodology […]
19 Jun 2024
The Environment Agency has successfully prosecuted Welsh Water Ltd for breaking conditions of an environmental permit at a sewage treatment works near Hereford between August 2020 and June 2021. At Worcester crown court on Friday 7 June, Welsh Water entered a guilty plea and were fined £90,000 for exceeding permitted levels of sewage effluent into […]
12 Jun 2024
The water industry is facing an exodus of engineers, with 70% of professionals considering a move to other sectors in the next two years. That’s according to a new report from specialist water industry recruitment firm, Water by Murray. The ‘Water Industry Labour Report’ found that seven out of ten engineers were considering working in […]
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