08 May 2025
Image description: Close up shot of dry and barren soil. Image by Markus Spiske / Pexels The Environment Agency (EA) has urged water companies to do more to safeguard water supplies, and people should start rationing their water use, after the driest start to spring in 69 years. The government has also asked the […]
08 May 2025
Image description: A hand extending for a hand-shake, with the face cropped out. Image by Pexels The Guardian has exclusively reported on potential “scare tactics” being used by the Treasury to help force through a private sector deal. The newspaper revealed Thames Water recently came within days of running out of money recently and […]
08 May 2025
Image description: Ecologists monitoring life in the River Itchen in Hampshire, wearing a white hat, blue shirt and waders. Image by Martin Godwin/The Guardian Chalk streams are some of the rarest habitats in the world – there are only 200, and England boasts 85% of them. However, despite the rarity and importance of these […]
08 May 2025
Image description: Close up shot of a silver tap with running water. Photo by ClickerHappy / Pexels Ofwat says that water companies must improve how they handle customer complaints about billing, with clearer and more effective communication being a crucial first step. Billing is the most common cause of complaints in the water sector. […]
01 May 2025
Image description: Brown Wooden Gavel on Brown Wooden Table. Image by Katrin Bolovtsova / Pexels. New laws coming into force in England and Wales could see water company executives face up to two years in prison for obstructing investigations into illegal sewage spills. Under the government’s landmark Water Act, executives who fail to meet […]
01 May 2025
Image description: Aerial shot of water treatment centre. Image by Tom Fisk / Pexels. What A report by the campaign group Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (Wasp) has found that upgrading a sewage works serving the Oxford area will cost £435m, more than 10 times the £40m cost quoted when the project was proposed. The […]
01 May 2025
Image description: Aerial shot of water treatment centre. Image by Tom Fisk. Unprecedented challenges facing UK water sector A critical new report by the National Audit Office (NAO) audits the three water regulators (Ofwat, the Environment Agency, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate) and Defra, which sets policies for the water sector. It examines their effectiveness […]
17 Apr 2025
Image description: Rowing boats stowed away. Image credit Antonio Babuli/ Pexels. The iconic Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race took place on Sunday 13 April. However, pre-race excitement was overshadowed by results from water-quality testing, which revealed levels of E. coli bacteria almost three times above the Environment Agency’s threshold for “poor” bathing waters, along […]
