The Department for Business and Trade has said it wants to stimulate competition within the water sector through streamlined regulation as well as delegating some of Ofwat's powers around the non-domestic market.
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Environmental regulation in Wales came under fire from politicians at a select committee hearing where witnesses described a cultural aversion to enforcement at Natural Resources Wales. The organisation's CEO said prosecution indicated regulation had failed and did not benefit the environment.
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The government is considering fundamental changes to the regulatory appeals process for water companies. This includes the possibility of moving away from a complete redetermination of company business plan submissions in favour of appealing specific aspects - to mirror the regime for energy.
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Colum Goodchild, director of asset strategy at Aqua Consultants, argues water companies must do more with less and work closely with local communities and other stakeholders to manage assets effectively, tackle environmental issues, and rebuild faith in the sector.
Opinion
Wessex have received the green light for a £100 million expansion to its Avonmouth treatment plant in Bristol after a five-year consultation to make the site fit for purpose as the population grows. The company said expanding the works' capacity will cut the number of storm overflows triggered during heavy rainfall
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United Utilities is adding HGVs powered by renewable energy to its fleet from next year. The vehicles will transport sewage sludge from wastewater plants around its region to Davyhulme where that sludge is converted to fuel to charge the HGVs
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The departing chief executive of water consumer watchdog CCW talks to Ruth Williams about regaining trust, putting collaboration into action and why regulators need to have a joined-up message for the sector.
Interviews
Another £40 million is up for grabs for collaborative ideas that could solve some of the common problems that the water sector is facing. Ofwat highlighted the net zero transition as an area that could benefit from the innovation funding. It called for "even bolder initiatives" as the sector stares down problems of net zero, pollution leakage and climate change.
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United Utilities has been hit with an £800,000 fine for illegally abstracting 22 billion litres of water from boreholes in Lancashire. The water company has also made a £3 million contribution to support environmental projects in the area. The Environment Agency said that the over abstraction caused additional stress on the environment during a period of very dry weather in 2018 and led to a significant decline in the water level available in the Fylde Aquifer.
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Environment secretary Therese Coffey held just one official meeting with representatives of the water sector during her first six months in the role, despite growing public anger of the sector’s performance and mounting scrutiny on companies’ financial resilience. Opposition politicians have subsequently questioned the priorities of the Department for environment, food and rural affairs, following Utility Week’s analysis of Coffey’s publicly available ministerial diaries.
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United Utilities will produce hydrogen and graphene from biogas at its Davyhulme sewage treatment plant. As part of a DESNZ funded scheme, the company partnered with carbon technology firm Levidian to trial novel technology at its treatment works with an ambition to scale up.
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Following Ofwat's annual review of its Innovation Fund, Utility Week spoke to judge Jon Brigg about how innovation can improve perceptions of the water sector and find common ground between industries. Just don't talk to him about the dreaded word "collaboration".
Analysis
Has the Ukrainian war finally made recovering phosphate an economic proposition? Or will the government need to push the industry to do more on nutrient recovery? Lucinda Dann explores if the time is right to close the loop on phosphorus.
Analysis
Yorkshire Water is working with an R&D group on the feasibility of feeding insect larvae sewage sludge to minimise the output from plants. The bugs have previously been used on food and agricultural waste and are raised to create a protein-rich by-product.
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Innovative ideas submitted from academics and supply chain partners to address sewer flooding, water pollution, phosporous levels and microplastics are among the winners from the latest round of the Ofwat innovation competition. In total, 20 ideas have received funding in the latest round of the Water Discovery Challenge.
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