11 Oct 2022

A minister has said he will “seriously” consider a study that claimed a toxic chemical was more likely to have caused mass shellfish deaths than algae.     Last week we reported that new research carried out by several universities commissioned by the fishing industry said pyridine, which could have been released by dredging, was […]

06 Oct 2022

England and Wales water regulator Ofwat hands out financial penalties to 11 firms for missing supply, biodiversity, pollution and sewer flooding goals. Overall, for those 11 companies, almost £150m is planned to be taken off customers’ bills in the next financial year because of missed targets Ofwat has announced.     Ofwat went on to […]

06 Oct 2022

How old is your water? It may seem like a peculiar question at first, but there are real implications to how long a drop of water has spent underground. Research suggests that the water cycle is speeding up in some places as a result of human enterprise.     Scientists at UC Santa Barbara discovered […]

06 Oct 2022

The Environment Agency has released a report on salmonid and fisheries statistics for 2021. The report covers England and Wales and provides a summary of the declared catches of salmon, sea trout, eels, smelt and lamprey by rods, nets and other fishing instruments for 2021. It covers England, Wales and the Border Esk in Scotland. […]

06 Oct 2022

The Environment Secretary has announced that the potential civil penalty is to rise from £250,000 to up to £250 million to help bring quicker enforcement action against water companies for causing pollution.     The Minister will bring forward proposals to raise the civil penalty for water companies who pollute the environment by 1,000-fold. The […]

06 Oct 2022

Investment zones with “liberalised” planning laws to accelerate development could be designated within national parks and in the most environmentally protected areas of the UK, government documents reveal and reported in the Guardian.     Details of the government’s new zones to increase housebuilding and commercial development reveal councils can apply for zones in national parks, […]

06 Oct 2022

Water scarcity has already proven to be a significant impact in eastern parts of Scotland this year as the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) reveals the extent of extreme, dry conditions experienced.     This summer in the east was the tenth driest in 100 years. Eight out of the last 12 months saw below […]

06 Oct 2022

The third round of Ofwat’s innovation competition –Water Breakthrough Challenge – has opened, encouraging innovation and collaboration to transform water services with up to £38 million available in funding.     The Water Breakthrough Challenge, run by Ofwat in partnership with Challenge Works, Arup and Isle Utilities, aims to encourage initiatives that help to tackle […]