13 Aug 2026
Image description: Hands wearing blue plastic gloves taking a water sample from a pond using a pipette and brown glass sampling bottle. New data published by EA paints a ‘very concerning’ picture for England’s waterways The Environment Agency’s (EA) latest data, published 6 August 2026, showed that just 14% of England’s rivers, lakes, estuaries […]
09 Jul 2026
Photo credit: Swanky Fella Drinking water quality in England remained exceptionally high in 2025, even as ageing infrastructure and deteriorating asset health emerged as a threat to the long-term resilience of supplies. The Drinking Water Inspectorate’s Chief Inspector’s Annual Report found that 99.97 per cent of more than 3.5 million regulatory tests met the required […]
04 Jun 2026
Image description: Close up shot of silvery seafoam in sunlight. Photo by Kier in Sight Archives on Unsplash A remote island, an unexpected finding Britain’s most remote inhabited island, known for knitting and rare birds, has the highest recorded levels of toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in any public drinking water supply in Scotland. The […]
30 Apr 2026
Image description: Torso wearing a white t-shirt and with blonde hair, holding up a glass of water. Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash Water UK has issued a statement calling on the government to ban the manufacturing of non-essential PFAS and to strengthen the application of the “polluter pays” principle in tackling PFAS contamination. […]
19 Feb 2026
Image description: A wide view of a lake, grass and mountains in Cockermouth Cumbria. Photo by Joy Roxas on Unsplash Discovery and investigation of ‘toxic pollution hotspots’ The Guardian has exclusively revealed a number of ‘toxic pollution hotspots’ has been uncovered across Cumbria and Lancashire, with high levels of the banned cancer-causing “forever chemical” Pfos detected in rivers and groundwater at 25 sites. Pfos is a type of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (Pfas), […]
05 Feb 2026
Photo by Mukesh Sharma on Unsplash Government plans increased testing for ‘forever chemicals’ The UK government has launched the first-ever national PFAS plan to tackle so-called ‘forever chemicals’, which have prompted environmental and health concerns. Introducing the plan, Emma Hardy, the Minister for Water and Flooding, said PFAS posed “a long-term challenge for not […]
11 Dec 2025
Image description: Water being poured from a bottle into a glass. Image by congerdesign / pixabay. Drinking water contaminated with PFAS chemicals significantly increases the risk of infant mortality and harm to newborns, according to groundbreaking University of Arizona research examining 11,000 births in New Hampshire. The peer-reviewed study found that consuming well water […]
02 Dec 2025
Photo by Gustavo Quepóns The UK Government published its revised Environmental Improvement Plan on 1 December 2025, setting out a roadmap for restoring England’s environment through ten long-term goals covering restored nature, air, water, chemicals and pesticides, waste, resources, climate change, environmental hazards, biosecurity and access to nature. The cross-government plan commits to “cleaning up our rivers, lakes […]
