08 May 2025
Image description: Close up shot of a silver tap with running water. Photo by ClickerHappy / Pexels Ofwat says that water companies must improve how they handle customer complaints about billing, with clearer and more effective communication being a crucial first step. Billing is the most common cause of complaints in the water sector. […]
01 May 2025
Image description: Brown Wooden Gavel on Brown Wooden Table. Image by Katrin Bolovtsova / Pexels. New laws coming into force in England and Wales could see water company executives face up to two years in prison for obstructing investigations into illegal sewage spills. Under the government’s landmark Water Act, executives who fail to meet […]
01 May 2025
Image description: Aerial shot of water treatment centre. Image by Tom Fisk / Pexels. What A report by the campaign group Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (Wasp) has found that upgrading a sewage works serving the Oxford area will cost £435m, more than 10 times the £40m cost quoted when the project was proposed. The […]
01 May 2025
Image description: Aerial shot of water treatment centre. Image by Tom Fisk. Unprecedented challenges facing UK water sector A critical new report by the National Audit Office (NAO) audits the three water regulators (Ofwat, the Environment Agency, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate) and Defra, which sets policies for the water sector. It examines their effectiveness […]
17 Apr 2025
Image description: Rowing boats stowed away. Image credit Antonio Babuli/ Pexels. The iconic Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race took place on Sunday 13 April. However, pre-race excitement was overshadowed by results from water-quality testing, which revealed levels of E. coli bacteria almost three times above the Environment Agency’s threshold for “poor” bathing waters, along […]
17 Apr 2025
Image description: The Roman Baths museum in Bath. Image credit Rachel Claire / Pexels. The University of Bath has opened the UK’s first pilot wastewater monitoring centre which it says could help avoid future pandemics. The early-warning public health surveillance system is based on detecting traces of chemicals and biological markers found in water. […]
17 Apr 2025
Image description: Sewage pipes on the right flow out into an ocean on the left. Image by Tom Fisk / Pexels. New levy proposed to cover enforcement costs The Environment Agency (EA) has revealed details of how it intends to implement a levy on water companies to recoup the money it needs to carry […]
17 Apr 2025
Image description: Aerial shot of Dunball sluice during early refurbishment. Image by the Environment Agency. The Environment Agency has completed a £9.7 million refurbishment of the Dunball Sluice, a crucial tidal defence asset near Bridgwater that helps protect homes, businesses and internationally important freshwater habitats across the Somerset Levels region. The agency has upgraded […]
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