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 […]
11 Jun 2026
Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash The Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) has launched a consultation on expanding its authority beyond water supply to include wastewater and other strategically important infrastructure schemes. The move follows recommendations in the Independent Water Commission report and an explicit endorsement in the government White Paper. The […]
04 Jun 2026
Photo by Jonathan Cooper on Unsplash Communication, not supply, was the breakdown A new report jointly commissioned by Ofwat and the Consumer Council for Water has concluded that communication, rather than supply failure itself, was the clearest and most consistent breakdown in South East Water’s response to two major disruptions last winter. Fewer than one in […]
28 May 2026
Image description: An outdoor water tap in sharp focus, with a blurred green background. Photo by Luis Tosta on Unsplash Record heat, record demand Across the UK’s hottest May bank holiday on record, temperatures hit 35°C at Heathrow and South East Water in Kent and Sussex found its system pushed beyond capacity. Demand peaked at 670 […]
27 Jan 2025
As part of its commitment to “getting Britain building again”, the government is publishing a series of working papers on different aspects of planning reform, designed to inform further policy development in collaboration with the wider sector. The latest paper invites views on how the government could reform the process for consenting Nationally Significant Infrastructure […]
16 Jan 2025
The Guardian reports water shortage fears as Labour’s first AI growth zone is to be sited just seven miles from Abingdon reservoir planned for water-stressed south-east England. Labour’s first artificial intelligence growth zone will be sited close to the UK’s first new reservoir in 30 years, sparking fears that the AI push will add to […]
31 Dec 2024
The boss of Southern Water has apologised after parts of Southampton and Eastleigh experienced either low pressure or a loss of water supply The company blamed a technical issue at the Testwood Water Supply Works, which left customers dependent on bottled water. CEO Lawrence Gosden said that “it was the single biggest water supply incident […]
