South West Water customers given £450m in subsidies while firm dished out £1.5bn in dividends Water South West Water customers were given nearly half a billion pounds in government subsidies to keep their bills down, despite the water firm shelling out three times that amount in dividends to shareholders over the same period. The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has been giving people in South West Water’s catchment [...]
Top-rated water firms dumped 1,374 ‘illegal’ spills into UK rivers Two of the UK’s largest water firms breached their permits by dumping over a thousand raw sewage spills into rivers, even though they had received the highest possible environmental rating from one of the sector’s regulators, fresh analysis has revealed. Severn Trent and United Utilities oversaw 1,374 raw sewage spills from treatment works across more [...]
Water bosses risk prison time as government launches crackdown Politics Bosses of water companies who obstruct watchdog investigations could face up to two years behind bars, as the government unveils tough new laws to ramp up enforcement. The Water (Special Measures) Bill was introduced in Parliament on Wednesday and will grant sweeping new powers to the Environment Agency (EA), the Drinking Water Inspectorate and Ofwat [...]
Water firms warn of ‘material risk’ to stopping sewage leaks with Ofwat bill cap August 28, 2024 Plans to cap water bill increases at £19 per year would prevent suppliers from raising enough cash to improve performance, Water UK said.
Severn Trent given top environmental rating by regulator that just fined it £2m July 23, 2024 The Environment Agency has awarded Severn Trent the highest possible rating for its environmental performance despite having just fined the water company £2m for a sewage discharge that it said could have caused "catastrophic pollution".
Ofwat is now investigating all eleven of England and Wales’ water companies July 16, 2024 Ofwat is opening enforcement cases into four more water companies in a move that means it is now investigating every single water and wastewater company in England and Wales for the mismanagement of their networks and water treatment.
Water firms to face more sewage dumping tracking from environment watchdog March 25, 2024 The Environment Agency today said that from next year, utility providers in England and Wales will be required to fit monitors on an additional 7,000 emergency overflow pipes that have to date not been accounted for.