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.
News
Environment
Editor's picks
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.
News
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.
News
Latest in Environment
Yorkshire Water has paid out £1 million to environmental groups in relation to a historic pollution incident caused by a blocked storm overflow. The water company voluntarily offered to pay £500,000 to both the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and to Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust and has completed upgrades to the sewer network in the area worth £1.85 million.
News
Anglian Water has set out plans for more than £12 million of improvements to river water quality across its region. The work at six locations includes removing phosphorous at wastewater treatment sites to meet tightening environmental regulations as well as upgrades to boost capacity to process more sewage.
News
Ofwat's chair and chief executive both told a House of Commons committee that the proposed £100 million water efficiency fund would not be sufficient to stop people using as much water. Answering questions on resilience of supplies, Black said getting major infrastructure projects off the ground was a problem, but something Ofwat and other stakeholders are focused on.
News
With a sharp rise in the number of people reporting becoming sick after entering British bathing waters, Surfers Against Sewage called for water companies to take rapid action. SAS appeared at an APPG water group to discuss the challenge of dry spills from storm overflows alongside engineering fellow Karen Merrell who voiced the fear that "vast sums of money" would be badly spent if companies failed to understand the complexities of catchment planning for individual CSOs.
News
The Environment Agency has completed its inspections of sewage plants as part of its biggest criminal investigation to-date. The probe was launched two years ago into all English water and sewerage companies to assess potential non-compliance of flow to full treatment regulations at wastewater processing sites.
News
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
Northumbrian Water is spending more than £15 million to meet tighter phosphorous discharge permits that will come into effect December 2024. The company is upgrading five wastewater treatment sites in Durham to improve the quality of effluent returned to rivers
News
Profits fell at United Utilities for the six months to September, which the company said was in part due to an emergency £30 million pipe repair at a sewage plant. It is on-track to double its performance rewards for outcome delivery incentives compared to the previous year and earn £200 million for the five years to 2025.
News
Southern Water's plan to reduce spills from combined sewer overflows (CSOs) will see it exceed government's 2050 targets to drive down discharges. The company launched an interactive map of all overflow points outlining the work to be done, anticipated costs and timeline for improvements
News
The biggest fine issued for a discharge permit in Anglian Water's region was handed to Avara Foods for repeatedly breaching the terms of its consent. The manufacturer pleaded guilty to 30 charges and ordered to pay £226k.
News
CCW has come out in support of unlimited fines being applied to organisations that cause pollution to the environment. The group said abolishing the current £250k cap on fines must be accompanied by a reassurance to consumers that remedial action is being taken to address the causes of pollution.
News
Welsh Water has been called out by Ofwat’s chief executive David Black for being “far less ambitious” than English water companies on reducing total spills from sewer overflows. Black said that the regulator was concerned that Welsh Water "don’t really have a plan that’s going to deliver meaningful reductions by 2030.”
News
