The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Barclay, has written to water companies asking them to improve maintenance programmes to ensure these are not a cause of storm overflow discharges. He highlights this is a legal requirement that water companies should already be delivering and states his plans to closely follow […]
Water companies are putting in solutions to improve storm overflows, including this new £1.3 million scheme in Bath from Wessex Water. Whilst the drive to reduce overflows is welcome, it would be great to see more sustainable and innovative projects coming to the fore. Read more about the Bath scheme here.
The Sunday Times reports that a part owner of one of the UK’s biggest water suppliers is considering an exit as the sector comes under increasing scrutiny. US-based investment house Corsair is reportedly seeking a buyer for its 30 per cent stake in Kelda, the owner of Yorkshire Water. The company is reportedly looking for […]
The National Drought Group has reiterated the importance of sectors continuing to plan and invest for all weather events, despite third wettest autumn this century. Drought experts have highlighted the need to continue investing and preparing for droughts to ensure England is in the best possible position to deal with extreme weather events and a […]
EurEau has published new research setting out research and innovation priorities for the European water sector. Innovating for a greener future is designed to help policy makers in designing research and innovation programmes in a way that responds to the real needs of drinking water and wastewater operators. The combined energy and supply-chain crisis the […]
The government has published the latest set of bathing water quality compliance reports for England. The press release shows that 96% of English bathing waters meet required quality standards, a fall from 97% last year, while those rated ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ dipped from 93% to 90%. In Scotland, SEPA said 98% had again attained ‘sufficient,’ with […]
The UNFCCC COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates runs until 12 December. Governments, civil society, businesses and financial institutions are continuing to discuss the implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. It started with a pledge from governments around the world to provide over £300 million for a loss and damage fund. This is designed to […]
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), has evaluated the carcinogenicity of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). PFOA and PFOS are widely used chemicals in a large group of fluorinated compounds called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), sometimes called “forever chemicals” because they […]