04 Jun 2026
Image description: The pull handle on a lavatory. Image by Andrew Martin from Pixabay A hidden enforcement gap Misconnected household pipes, washing machines, dishwashers, sinks or toilets accidentally plumbed into surface water drains rather than the foul sewer, let untreated wastewater flow directly into rivers, streams and the sea. Although discharging foul water into a surface water […]
06 May 2026
Image description: Aerial view of a port in Gibraltar. Photo by Michal Mrozek on Unsplash In an exclusive report, the Guardian reveals that Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, has never operated a wastewater treatment plant, meaning raw sewage from nearly 40,000 people and businesses has been discharged untreated into the Mediterranean Sea for decades. Untreated […]
26 Feb 2026
Image description: A dead fish lies on its side on the rocky bed of a river. Image by Oguzhan Aydin from Pixabay. Yorkshire Water has been fined more than £700,000 for repeatedly releasing sewage into a country park stream in Derbyshire, the Environment Agency (EA) said. Yorkshire Water was issued with the penalty after pleading guilty to three offences of sewage pollution in Pools Brook country park […]
26 Feb 2026
Image description: A red and white sign nailed to a wooden fence is in the foreground, with a sandy beach and sea in the background. The sign reads “beach closed, no swimming”. Image by YM, Unsplash. A group legal claim against South West Water (SSW) alleging sewage pollution into coastal waters is harming businesses and individuals has been extended across Devon and Cornwall. […]
16 Jan 2025
The 5th edition of the well-known textbook “Urban Drainage” by David Butler, Chris Digman, Christos Makropoulos and John W. Davies has just been published. Photo credit: Chris F Keeping its balance of principles, practice, and research, this new edition has had the most comprehensive update of any edition so far. It includes a […]
14 Nov 2024
Research and development in the wastewater sector have shown that offsetting greenhouse gas emissions through improved efficiency and resource recovery is possible, but efforts beyond science and engineering are necessary to achieve net zero. Wastewater treatment is responsible for a relatively small percentage of global CO2 emissions, but it is one of the largest sources of […]
06 Nov 2024
A report by sustainability think tank the Institute for European Environmental Policy UK (IEEP UK) looks at the implications of diverging wastewater policy between the UK and the EU. Photo credit: Joseph Russo EU law concerning collection and treatment of wastewater (sewage) has been dominated by the 1991 Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. […]
18 Sep 2024
NICE-R NetNature 2 is a free, open-source user-tailored tool to explore the potential of nature-based solutions (NBS) for treating different types of wastewater in cities, rural and peri-urban areas These systems can be implemented as natural technologies in different built-up spaces for the purpose of retaining, treating and, ultimately, reusing the treated water at a […]
