06 Mar 2024

Southern Water has been fined £330,000 after raw sewage escaped into a stream near Southampton for what the company admitted could have been nearly 20 hours. Almost 2,000 fish were killed as faulty equipment at a pumping station sent untreated effluent into the environment at Waltham Chase on the edge of the South Downs. Sitting […]

06 Mar 2024

Covered in The Independent Most of the UK’s beachgoers could be swimming in dirty waters mixed with sewage due to outdated water forecasting methods, a new study has found. With the growing popularity of coastal and wild swimming, there are increased concerns over polluted water flowing during the rainy season. But existing bathing water forecast […]

07 Feb 2024

The London Assembly claims that instances of sewage flowing into London’s rivers in 2023 were almost five times the amount for the same period the previous year. The London Assembly used published Thames Water data which monitors discharge from 118 sites across the Thames Water network feeding into 33 rivers and waterways. The data shows […]

30 Jan 2024

The Times reports that Defra ministers have told water company bosses they will no longer “mark their own homework” on whether they are illegally polluting rivers, in a shift in how the sector is regulated. Private water companies have to run checks to ensure they are meeting permits issued by the Environment Agency about how […]

22 Jan 2024

The Gurdian reports that the UK water industry’s ‘urgent’ plan to tackle sewage pollution has been delayed by four months, with no publication date in sight. Government ministers last year demanded water executives send them a “plan for urgent change” to tackle outflows which spill untreated human waste into rivers and seas. Last May the […]

10 Jan 2024

Over 80 per cent of the public are concerned about the state of nature in the UK – with the health of our water vital to this majority. More than three-quarters of the public believe water reform should be a major priority for the next government following a general election. Experts believe that our water […]

10 Jan 2024

In this Vancouver suburb, innovative technology is harnessing heat from wastewater and using it as a renewable energy source to heat homes. In the midst of winter, the streets of Vancouver will be carpeted with a light layer of snow, punctuated by steaming openings where it has already melted. The access holes to the drains […]