Water treatment

PR24: United Utilities pledges third of total CSO spend

PR24: SES to ‘fall short’ on net zero

SVT ‘really confident’ Ofwat will approve £13bn spend

Severn Trent has told investors it is confident the "vast majority" of its spending plans for 2025-2030 will be approved, after asking for a doubling in total expenditure compared to the current price control. Meanwhile chief executive Liz Garfield promised growth in regulatory capital value “beyond anything people might have been expecting” for PR24.

Coffey summons ‘extremely disappointing’ water bosses

Water companies owe billpayers £236 million for underperformance

RAAC scandal offers chance to tackle lead in school tap water

Increasing concern about the state of public buildings offers an opportunity to accelerate the removal of lead from drinking water. This was the view of experts at the Drinking Water Quality Conference this week, who insist there should be an urgent focus on the impact of lead on young people and the most vulnerable in particular. Members of the UK Water Industry Lead Strategy Board, which was formed three years ago, set out the advances that have been made in reducing levels of lead in drinking water but warned against complacency.

Duty to upgrade sewage treatments should be expanded

MPs call for water efficiency measures to be included in ECO4

Water companies urged to ditch ‘impenetrable’ reports

Ofwat and government may have broken law over sewage spills

Rural residents blighted by rats in their water supply

People living in rural communities are forced to deal with rats, tadpoles and brown bath water on a daily basis because they are not connected to a mains water supply, MPs have heard. The blight of rural communities was raised in a Westminster Hall debate in which the government came under fire for failing to support those living in properties without a water mains connection. MP Simon Clarke proposed new legislation and called on Defra to fund connections in exceptional circumstances.

Ofwat seeks net zero innovations

Where will England’s next reservoirs be?

Helm: Breaking up Thames would be a good start

Economist Dieter Helm has proposed dividing beleaguered Thames into two public limited companies with simplified ownership to improve management and prevent financial engineering. The sector's long-term critic also took Ofwat to task for not taking steps to strip poorly-performing companies of their licences and proposed reverting to the single-company structures of the original privatised companies.

£20m pipeline to boost water security in Essex

A water transfer project to move 50 megalitres of water between treatment sites in Essex has begun work to bolster resilience of supplies in the region. Raw supplies will be able to move from a reservoir to both treatment plants to better exploit treatment capacity. Essex and Suffolk is investing £20million in the scheme, which will serve 370,000 customers.