20 Mar 2025
Last year, Professor Carolyn Roberts brought a landmark class action against six of England’s largest water companies for alleged breaches of environmental duties. The suit claimed the six defendants significantly under-reported pollution incidents, which allowed them to charge higher prices than would have been permitted if accurate reports had been made. This under-reporting was argued […]
20 Mar 2025
Thames Water was reported to have discharged 50% more sewage into England’s rivers last year, compared with the previous 12 months. In numbers, this rose from 196,414 hours of raw effluent in 2023 to 300,000 hours in 2024. The data was analysed by University College of London Professor Peter Hammond after Thames Water won approval […]
20 Mar 2025
Water regulator Ofwat has concluded its investigation into Yorkshire Water, securing an enforcement package of £40m to be paid by the wastewater company. Their investigation found on average the firm discharged untreated wastewater into the region’s rivers for seven hours a day in 2023, with almost half its storm overflows found to be in breach […]
06 Mar 2025
Photo by Sang Yun Cho / Pixabay The environmental group River Action has announced they are taking legal action against Ofwat, the water regulator, accusing it of making customers pay twice for services that have not yet been delivered. Water companies are under investigation by Ofwat for breaches to their permits, an inquiry that […]
06 Mar 2025
The Independent Water Commission, launched last October by the UK and Welsh governments, is seeking views in relation to the water sector in England and Wales. A Call for Evidence opened on February 27 and will close on April 23. The public, environment groups, investors and others are invited to share their views on future […]
27 Feb 2025
In December, sector regulator Ofwat said it would allow water firms to raise bills by an average of £157, or 36%, over the next five years to help finance investment into crumbling infrastructure. However, now six water firms – Thames Water, Southern Water, Anglian Water, South East Water, Northumbrian Water and Wessex Water – have […]
20 Feb 2025
Ofwat has opened an enforcement case into Thames Water to investigate whether the delayed delivery of environmental improvement schemes it committed to has meant that it has breached or will be likely to breach legal obligations Ofwat is responsible for enforcing. Photo credit: Yelena Odintsova The Water Industry National Environmental Programme (WINEP) is the […]
20 Feb 2025
Thames Water is among several water companies to ask the economic regulator, Ofwat, to refer its Final Determination to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for a redetermination. Others include Anglian Water and Southern Water. The Board of the UK’s largest water and wastewater services company made the unanimous decision after concluding that the Final […]
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