20 Aug 2026

Photo by Emma Wurfel on Unsplash   Thames Water on alert to re-activate UK’s only mainland desalination plant The UK’s only mainland desalination plant may be restarting operations later this year, says Thames Water. The utility firm, which operates the plant in Beckton, east London, is on alert to activate the facility as London reservoir […]

13 Aug 2026

Image description: Someone holding a black biro pen to fill out a survey on a blue clipboard. Image credit: Phil Hearing on Unsplash   Almost nine in 10 people support the building of a new £6.6bn reservoir in Oxfordshire according to a new survey shared by Thames Water. Thames Water said 89% of 2,004 adults surveyed […]

05 Aug 2026

Photo credit: Sharon Waldron   The Drinking Water Inspectorate has issued Thames Water a warning letter after finding “multiple and significant failures” in works that left a customer’s water supply mistakenly connected to a sewer in Kidlington, Oxfordshire. The letter, dated 23 July, follows the Inspectorate’s investigation into an incident that occurred on 4 March […]

05 Aug 2026

Photo credit: Gio L   A group of Labour MPs and regional mayors has urged the prime minister to turn failing water companies into not-for-profit cooperatives, presenting the idea as a middle path between full nationalisation and the status quo. The proposal, set out in a report from the Good Growth Foundation, a think tank […]

30 Jul 2026

Photo credit: Sander Crombach   None of London’s rivers is currently rated as being in good condition. That is the backdrop to a ten-year plan launched by the Mayor of London to clean up the capital’s waterways, backed by £1.8 billion of partner funding over five years. The Clean Rivers and Waterways plan brings together […]

23 Jul 2026

Photo credit: Galina Kondratenko   Thames Water’s Temporary Use Ban came into force at 00:01 on Thursday 23 July, taking the number of people affected by hosepipe restrictions across England and Wales to about 23 million, according to the Guardian. The ban applies across Thames Water’s entire drinking water supply area, covering roughly 10 million customers […]