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Latest in CSO

Southern on track to surpass CSO target
Southern Water has said it should beat the target set by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to cut discharges from combined sewer overflows to an average of 20 per year by 2025. The company is on track to to reduce to 18 spills per year by that date and achieve a 14% reduction in spills by 2030.
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CSOs: Solutions for complex problems
Awareness and concern about storm overflows in inland waters and seas has gained considerable momentum, with everyone from activists and politicians to pop stars campaigning for uncontrolled discharges to cease. RSK Group’s strategic business development director, Mark Smith, examines the impact of storm overflows and asks, is it feasible to stop all discharges and, if so, what will it cost and who should pay? 
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South West added to Ofwat wastewater probe
South West Water has become the sixth wastewater company that Ofwat has opened an enforcement case against as part of its ongoing investigation into wastewater treatment works. The regulator also provided an update on the investigation, saying some companies may not be properly assessing the compliance of sites with treatment requirements and may lack the operational data to do so.
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Water CEOs say it’s time to address drains under strain
Industry experts have called for the prioritisation of work to better understand and remove surface water without it entering overburdened sewers as a key challenge of climate change resilience. The chief executive of Thames and Northumbrian Water agree that the sector needs to work harder, and collaborate further on managing surface water.
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UK’s second river bathing site designated in Oxford
A stretch of the River Thames in Oxford is set to become the UK's second designated inland bathing site following a successful campaign by local community groups and The Rivers Trust. The classification means Thames Water, landowners and the local council will be required to improve water quality to bring it up to the safe swimming standard within the next five years.
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OEP ‘keenly interested’ in agricultural polluters
Finding ways to tackle the diffuse pollution from agricultural runoff that causes ecological damage to waterways and their biodiversity will be a key focus for the newly constituted Office for Environmental Protection, its chair has said.
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United Utilities and Thames lay out river health ambitions
United Utilities and Thames Water have each laid out the investments they plan to make to improve the health of rivers in their regions. Thames has set itself a target of reducing the total duration of its sewage discharges by 50% by 2030, whilst United Utilities has pledged to cut the number of spills in its region by one-third by 2025.
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Ofwat calls for detailed river health action plans
Ofwat's interim chief executive David Black has written to water company bosses demanding that they publish detailed plans by the end of April setting out the specific actions they intend to take reduce harms to river water quality, including from storm overflows. He underlined that there is no regulatory reason not to act immediately.
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Russell: Don’t ‘hide behind regulation’ on CSO action
Senior Ofwat director John Russell has told water companies it is unacceptable to "hide behind regulation" or wait until the next price review before taking action to minimise impacts of combined sewer overflows on rivers. He said where there are resources and ability, companies should begin improving the monitoring and health of their assets.
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Northumbrian fined for pollution incidents in 2017
Northumbrian Water has been fined £240,000 after pleading guilty to two pollution incidents in 2017 when a brick from a manhole chamber became lodged in a pipe, causing a combined sewer to overflow. The company has subsequently taken steps to remedy its approach to manhole maintenance in agricultural areas.
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Severn Trent fined £1.5m for pollution offences
Severn Trent has been fined £1.5 million for pollution offences dating back to 2018 at four wastewater treatment works in Worcestershire. The Environment Agency said the company failed to respond to a blockage alert and adequately manage sewage sludge.
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Calls for more protections for waterways following U-turn on CSOs
The government has announced plans to impose a legal duty on water companies to reduce the impact of sewage discharges from storm overflows after stripping out a similar requirement from an amendment to the Environment Bill. Water UK said it must now enact further policies to protect sewer systems if it is serious about combating pollution.
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