03 Mar 2022

On 18 November 2021, the Environment Agency and Ofwat announced major investigations into potential widespread non-compliance by water and sewerage companies at sewage treatment works. Below is an update from the EA on progress: The investigations were launched after companies revealed to us that they may be in breach of their permit conditions. This issue […]

03 Mar 2022

Natural Resources Wales is introducing restrictions on salmon fishing on the River Severn in Wales, in response to the decline in migratory salmon stocks. Numbers are currently among the lowest on record and are below sustainable levels. New byelaws have been confirmed by the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd, Lesley Griffiths, […]

03 Mar 2022

Scottish Water is calling for a ban on the sale of wet wipes which contain plastic. The company says it responds to 36,000 blockages each year with the vast majority featuring wet wipes. It comes as an advertising campaign is launched urging people not to flush wipes of any kind down the toilet. Scottish Water […]

03 Mar 2022

In advance of the IPCC report, the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee produced a report, ‘Nature-based solutions: rhetoric or reality? The potential contribution of nature-based solutions to net zero in the UK’. The report states that: The term “nature-based solutions” is used to mean working with the grain of nature to achieve […]

24 Feb 2022

‘Speech by Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, World Water Tech Innovation Summit, 22 February 2022 Thank you for inviting me back. ‘………..  Two years ago I said that all of us need to think differently if we are to tackle successfully the new reality of the climate emergency. Today I want […]

24 Feb 2022

The Government will know it has a problem when the Daily Telegraph starts an environmental campaign. This time it is about raw sewage discharges into rivers to mark the launch of its Clean Rivers Campaign. David Black – Ofwat  To: Chairs of Remuneration Committees for all regulated water and wastewater and water-only companies, copied to […]

24 Feb 2022

Published 16 February 2022 The water industry is producing strategic drainage and wastewater plans to maintain, improve, and extend robust and resilient drainage and wastewater systems. Water and sewerage companies must produce drainage and wastewater management plans (DWMPs) (they must cover a minimum of 25 years) plans looking at current and future capacity, pressures, and […]