01 May 2024

Read CIWEM’s balanced and considered view on Ofwat’s new Growth Duty – will it support sustainable growth? This proposes an over-arching ‘sustainability duty’ to address the imbalance between Ofwat’s economic regulatory focus and the need for more robust environmental enforcement. Covered in The Guardian The Conservatives have pushed through a duty on the water regulator […]

01 May 2024

Bloomberg reports that the Thames Water Crisis Risks £100 Billion UK Investment Plan, and that creditors warn Thames writedowns will push up borrowing costs. The debt crisis at Thames Water is jeopardizing £100 billion ($125 billion) of potential investment required over the next five years to mend Britain’s crumbling utilities infrastructure. Water companies have promised […]

01 May 2024

This 3-minute piece on Channel 4 News Is critical of the Environment Agency testing regime for bathing waters, because some test results are discounted. Blurb Earlier this year, an investigation by this programme led to calls for a change to the system that’s meant to warn swimmers in England about pollution linked to sewage. We […]

01 May 2024

A new, useful journal article, Forecasting bathing water quality in the UK: A critical review considers what an optimal framework for bathing water forecasting might look like. Abstract Climate change is altering rainfall patterns resulting in increasing variability and intensity of rainfall events worldwide. Increases to short duration, intense rainfall (i.e., convective rainfall), will lead […]

01 May 2024

The chief executive of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has issued a public statement to reiterate an “unwavering” support for robust governance when it comes to standard setting. The controversy followed claims that SBTi would recognise carbon credits as a way to “abate” scope 3 emissions. These indirect, value chain emissions usually make up […]

01 May 2024

Interesting piece in Construction Enquirer News Anglian Water, Heathrow, The Lower Thames Crossing, National Highways, Northumbrian Water and Sellafield have committed to scale-back use of the biggest contributors to CO₂ emissions – diesel, steel, and concrete. They are the first clients to sign up for the Construction Leadership Council’s “Five Client Carbon Commitments” designed to […]

01 May 2024

Interesting article in Smart Water Magazine, which looks at the implications of the new EU wastewater directive, approved by the European Parliament in April this year. The Directive covers the treatment requirements for the removal of micropollutants, i.e., substances present in very low concentrations. It proposes their removal through quaternary treatment in Article 8, mandatory […]

30 Apr 2024

The world’s biggest floating wind farm has been given the go-ahead off the Aberdeen coast. The £3 billion floating offshore wind project from developers Flotation Energy and Vårgrønn has been granted offshore planning approval. The project titled Green Volt, has now received all its planning approvals and remains on track to be the first commercial-scale […]