(by Karma Loveday) Last week’s World Water Congress, hosted in Glasgow by the International Water Association (IWA) and UK water sector, pursued its mission of driving ‘action for water’ as a route to resilience and prosperity. While it is impossible to quantify the tangible outputs from the event at this stage, the building blocks of action were very much in place – the right people, working constructively together beyond traditional silos, to increasingly think system-wide

(by Karma Loveday) Defra has reappointed Iain Coucher as Ofwat chair. His second term began on 1 October and will run “until the new integrated water regulator is established, and no later than 30 June 2029”. This suggests Ofwat could remain in operation for some time. Defra said: "During the transition to the new integrated regulator, Ofwat will remain fully operational and retain its existing legal powers while collaborating closely with Defra and partner agencies.” Ofwat h

(by Verity Mitchell) RSK Group has published its annual report and consolidated financial statements for the period from 7 April 2025 to 5 April 2026. It reported a 10.3% increase in revenue to £2,472m. Water now represents 43.3% of revenues, growing by 25% year-on-year. Reported EBITDA growth of 24.2% to £152,1m showed increased operational leverage, with a 30 basis points margin increase to 11.4%. Its adjusted EBITDA, which reflects pro forma adjustments for acquisitions, a

(by Karma Loveday) Activists River Action and Watershed Investigations have challenged the system that governs trade effluent, following a joint investigation. This is waste handled by water companies from industrial customers such as factories, power stations, pharmaceutical plants, hospitals, abattoirs and waste facilities. The criticisms covered two principle points: Risk of environmental harm – industrial waste can include substances such as PFAS, solvents, flame retarda

(by Karma Loveday) Water UK has offered its support to policies out for consultation on empowering mayors to decide on planning applications – and has urged that overtly aligning spatial planning with water and wastewater infrastructure capacity will be essential to unlock economic growth. Water UK was responding to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) Planning powers for mayors in England consultation, on implementing the English Devolution and

(by Karma Loveday) A new Flood and Drought Resilience Taskforce will meet for the first time on Wednesday, with an express commitment to champion community voices and strengthen the nation’s ability to plan for and respond to extreme weather. The new taskforce will bring floods and drought minister Emma Hardy together with representatives from more than 50 organisations, including the Environment Agency, Met Office, Mayoral authorities, the Fire and Rescue Services, and the f

(by Karma Loveday) The Environment Agency (EA) issued a drought permit to South West Water (SWW) relating to its Wimbleball Reservoir, as the company in parallel applied to Defra for a Non-Essential Use Ban (NEUB). Wimbleball in Exmoor serves 390,000 people, and was at 18% capacity on 4 October following this summer’s prolonged hot, dry weather. This time last year it was at 30% capacity. The permit temporarily allows South West Water to pause normal compensation flow to the

(by Verity Mitchell) Pennon Group’s share price had fallen 19.9% to a 15-year low five days after a £550m rights issue and the announcement of a strategic review in which chief executive Keith Haslett outlined a “self-help” plan to right-size the group. Just six months into his tenure, Haslett’s review amounts to an indictment of the current state of the group. Among the key problems he identified were a lack of performance culture, an investment strategy not linked to perfor

(by Karma Loveday) Water UK has set out three concerns with Ofwat’s draft determinations on the 2026 cost change process, despite welcoming the additional proposed investment of £3.4bn. The trade body noted the allowance will support housing and growth, and has successfully demonstrated that new investment can be flexibly unlocked outside of the five-yearly price review cycle. But its concerns were: Certain expenditure areas have been ruled out of scope "for no good reason”.

(by Karma Loveday) Beers and soft drinks giant Carlsberg Britvic has launched a landmark ten-year partnership with The Rivers Trust to invest in nature-based projects to help restore rivers, wetlands and floodplains near its Rugby manufacturing site. The projects will be delivered by Severn Rivers Trust. The partnership will support the delivery of multiple projects across the Warwickshire Avon catchment, 15 miles from the site, including on local rivers such as the Leam, and

(by Karma Loveday) Ardingly Reservoir, which serves 228,000 customers in Haywards Heath and the surrounding areas in Sussex, has moved further into drought, triggering the next level of response in South East Water’s Drought Plan. At the end of last week, it was only 22.8% full, but not all of that is usable due to sediment and the location of the draw-off tower. The Environment Agency granted the drought permit South East Water applied for on 28 August on 29 September. But i

(by Karma Loveday) Thames Water has invited three consortia to tender for the construction of the White Horse Reservoir in Oxfordshire: • WFH JV: comprising Webuild (JV leader), Hyundai Engineering and Construction and FCC Construccion. • BMV+: Bouygues Travaux Publics (JV leader), J. Murphy & Sons and VolkerFitzpatrick • BBV: Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering (JV leader) and VINCI Construction Grands Projets As the Main Works Contractor, the successful bidder will desig

(by Karma Loveday) The opening ceremony for the International Water Association’s World Water Congress took place in Glasgow yesterday, as the city welcomed over 10,000 global water experts and others to four days of discussions. The Congress theme – Water action: the path to resilience and prosperity – reflects the growing recognition that water is fundamental to economic growth, healthy communities and environmental sustainability. Key areas of focus at the event will be wh

(by Verity Mitchell) Andy Burnham’s proposed changes to the Water Bill have not triggered a revision of sector risk, according to Fitch. The ratings agency’s base case is that sector reforms “will deliver a clearer and better-coordinated framework”. Fitch said it will review the regulatory environment at the start of AMP9. It assumed that reform would leave the central setting of allowances and price controls intact, along with statutory and financeability protections. Moreov

(by Karma Loveday) Environment secretary Angela Eagle will bring forward a strengthened Water Bill, the centrepiece of which will be the removal of the current limits set out in the Water Act 1989 on government ownership of shares in the major water and sewerage companies in England. The exact limits vary by company but are below 3% in each case. In his leader’s speech to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, prime minister Andy Burnham detailed that: “Where private compa

(by Karma Loveday) Ofwat has approved draft funding to enable a five-fold expansion of the capacity of the Havant Thicket reservoir, and recognised that the forecast operational date needs to be pushed back from 2029 to 2034 to accommodate changes to the original design. Under the regulator’s decision, which is out for consultation until 12 October, the original allowed totex of £339m would be increased to £823m, under the second cost adjustment mechanism (CAM2) to the Havant

(by Karma Loveday) Water-related disruption has caused companies $1.4bn of financial impact, and they anticipate a further hit of almost $400bn from climate disruption costs, regulatory risks and new capex requirements. That is the message from Water, trade and capital: how water is reshaping geopolitics, supply chains and financial risk – analysis of disclosures on water from 6,500 companies from environmental disclosure specialist CDP. $45bn of the $400bn is expected to occ

(by Karma Loveday) Rain alone is a poor predictor of when and where bacterial contamination will hit coastal waters. That’s according to research by Plymouth Marine Laboratory, published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. The findings challenge assumptions built into existing water quality forecasting, and suggest there is untracked risk to public health from swimming/recreation and shellfish production. The work combined water sampling with advanced computer modelling to tr

(by Karma Loveday) Starting a major desalination plant upgrade forms the keystone of Jersey Water’s business plan for 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027, the second year of its strategy to 2030. The £26m upgrade will increase the plant’s output by 50%, as part of the company’s adaptation to a changing climate as evidenced by this year’s prolonged hot weather. It marks the company’s biggest investment for 35 years. Other priorities in the plan include continuing preparations

(by Karma Loveday) South Staffordshire Group chief executive Charley Maher will leave the business, and the water sector, at the end of October to take up post as chief executive of Bristol Airport. Mick Horn, currently group chief financial officer, will take on the responsibilities of group CEO alongside his CFO responsibilities while a permanent successor is sought. Barry Hayward, chief commercial officer, will move into the new role of interim chief operating officer. WS

(by Karma Loveday) Thames Water has launched three new initiatives to help businesses save water and money, as it marked the milestone of more than half of all non-household meters in its area now using smart technology. The company is currently fitting around 2,000 business smart meters a month, and has installed over 90,000 smart meters in all to its 170,000 non-household metered customer base. The new initiatives, which together are projected to save 16m litres of water a

(by Karma Loveday) Fire chiefs have warned of growing risks to public safety from insufficient water supplies. In a new position statement on Water Supplies for Firefighting, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) urged that water for firefighting to be recognised as a critical public safety requirement. It also argued that fire and rescue services should be formally recognised as key stakeholders in the future regulation and planning of the water sector. This followed resea

(by Verity Mitchell) United Utilities (UU) has issued a pre-close trading statement confirming its guidance for the current year to March 2027. It remains on track to deliver £2bn of capital investment and continues to target regulatory return in the range of 10-11%. Management has responded to Ofwat’s cost change decision, seeking additional support for investment to enhance network resilience, provide additional water and wastewater services to the North West and enable eco

(by Karma Loveday) A strike ballot will open today, running until 19 October, for Ofwat staff who are members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) trade union. This is an escalation of a dispute that has arisen because of lack of clarity for Ofwat workers since the Cunliffe Commission recommended, and Government accepted, that the regulator should be abolished, as a key plank of the water reform agenda. PCS called for: Retention of civil service status and rights. No r

(by Karma Loveday) As the Labour Party conference continues in Liverpool this week, ministers are expected to set out more thinking on ‘public control’ and how water should be run and financed, as part of an agenda to drive long-term public good from essential services. Mayoral control / public benefit companies / public ownership: A potential frontrunner policy is that turf rolled in The Telegraph a couple of weeks ago: that nine new regional bodies will be created (as prop

(by Karma Loveday) Natural England has published for consultation until 27 October the first Environmental Delivery Plan (EDP) deploying the new Nature Restoration Fund. The scheme will see developers fund large scale improvements to rivers and wetlands in Norfolk to more than offset the nutrient pollution that will be created by the construction and habitation of 15,780 new homes in the county. Instead of remediating impact at site level, developers will pay a levy which Nat

(by Karma Loveday) The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) reported the largest ever year-on-year increase in customer complaints, against the backdrop of steep bill rises. Household complaints to water companies climbed by 56% to 321,347 in 2025-26 from 205,853 in 2024-25. Complaints escalated to CCW surged by 84% in 2025-26, up to 15,115 from 8,235 in the previous year. The watchdog said the sharp rise was primarily linked to costs and bills: complaints to water firms about bi

(by Karma Loveday) Defra’s decision to exclude ownership models from the Independent Water Commission’s (IWC) remit looks set to be revisited by the new government. Water minister Emma Hardy told Parliament last week: “I have always wanted to introduce a water Bill that meets the political moment and the public appetite for change. I am delighted that it feels that we are closer to that. The change in prime minister has opened up options that were previously not available… mo

(by Karma Loveday) The Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) is consulting until 13 October on its draft corporate plan for 2027-33, which will coincide with around £8bn of investment in water services planned under the Strategic Review of Charges for the same period. The plan identified four areas of focus for WICS – ensuring customers pay no more than necessary, holding Scottish Water to account, improving the non-household retail market and running WICS efficiently

(by Karma Loveday) The White Horse Reservoir Growth Coalition was launched last week at a Parliamentary event, to publicly back the £6.6bn reservoir and to call for it to be granted Critical National Priority status. This would put the project on a level playing field with nationally significant energy projects, helping to remove planning barriers and accelerate delivery. The coalition unites organisations from across the South East, spanning a range of sectors including tech

(by Karma Loveday) Devon & Cornwall and East Anglia are expected to still be in drought by the start of April 2027 under the most likely rainfall scenario. That was among the projections emerging from last week’s National Drought Group meeting, where the Environment Agency presented potential rainfall scenario data for the coming seven months. For all areas to come out of drought – that is when rivers, groundwaters and reservoirs are back to normal levels – we need another we

(by Karma Loveday) Ofwat is consulting until 16 October on mandating that wholesalers and retailers use the new Smart Meter Read (SMR) Hub by 7 December. The regulator is minded to accept code change proposals CPM064 and CPW165. These provide for: Making the SMR Hub a central market system, operated by MOSL and integrated with CMOS, to provide assurance that it will be managed under the established market framework. Mandating its use by wholesalers and retailers. Wholesalers

(by Verity Mitchell) The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee has published a report following its evidence gathering on what it emotively calls “the dire situation at Thames Water.” It urged that ministers should explore all options for the company, including using the Special Administration Regime (SAR) or fresh legislation, to “draw a line under this debacle and restore stability to the sector by putting Thames Water on a sound footing for new buyers

(by Karma Loveday) Four former Southern Water staff, including its 2011-2016 chief executive Matthew Wright, appeared in court on Friday charged with conspiracy to defraud – a common law offence carrying a maximum ten-year prison term. It is alleged that between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2017 the individuals conspired to defraud the Environment Agency and Ofwat through the implementation of artificial no-flow events at wastewater treatment works to manipulate the operato

(by Karma Loveday) Welsh Water has lifted the hosepipe ban that has been in place for around 33,000 properties across mid and south Ceredigion, parts of north Pembrokeshire and north Carmarthenshire. This followed recovery in treated water storage levels, and decreased demand linked to the ban, as well as to lower temperatures, increased rainfall and the end of the summer tourist season. The company thanked its customers for their contribution while the ban was in place. In E

(by Karma Loveday) Infrastructure minister Liz Kimmins has commissioned a forensic audit into governance systems at Northern Ireland Water. Key areas of focus are expected to be HR, contract procurement visibility and whistleblowing. In a written statement to the Northern Ireland Assembly, Kimmins said: “Regrettably, there are a number of issues which are ongoing in NI Water, some of which have been the subject of NI Water investigations and have already resulted in the need

(by Karma Loveday) The Good Law Project (GLP) has called on Ofwat to "take appropriate steps to ensure that the public are not misled by legal inaccuracies with respect to the availability, purpose or mechanics of the special administration process for Thames”. The legal campaigner said it was moved to write to the regulator in light of media reports which cite Defra ministers’ reasons for not putting Thames Water into special administration. GLP said the first oft-cited reas

(by Verity Mitchell) Estelle Brachlianoff, chief executive of Veolia, has told the BBC that her company would consider running Thames Water if it were taken into public ownership. Private companies operating assets owned by the state is a familiar model for Veolia in France, although it owns regulated water assets in the US. Running renationalised Thames under contract – its drinking water facilities, wastewater treatment plants and networks – "could be an option, yes,” Brach

(by Karma Loveday) A public control task force has been set up by the new Office for the Prime Minister and Cabinet to address “the failure of many privatised utilities to deliver basic services at a fair price”. This is one of three new task forces that will operate across central government departments and local government, including with regional mayors as part of the devolution agenda. The other two focus areas are cost of living – especially challenging everyday rip-offs

(by Verity Mitchell) South East Water has aborted plans to issue a bond of around £200m after insufficient investor interest. The company cited the volatile political and regulatory backdrop as a reason for the sluggish investor response that followed its roadshow to debt investors last week. But the firm’s significant operational challenges may also have contributed to a lack of debt investor interest. South East Water has £150m of revolving credit facilities in place to cov

(by Karma Loveday) Portsmouth Water last week showed environment secretary Dame Angela Eagle work to date on the Havant Thicket reservoir in Hampshire, as the National Drought Group (NDG) met to discuss the ongoing drought situation. No drought status changes were made: 71.3% of England remains in drought, with 30m people affected by usage restrictions. July and August were dry months with 10% and 78% of rainfall respectively. The NDG reported that rivers had responded to the

(by Karma Loveday) Ofwat’s Water Innovation Fund has launched its seventh Breakthrough Challenge, with up to £50m available for collaborative projects tackling the water sector's hardest problems, from forever chemicals and storm overflows to leakage and river health. The funding will be awarded through two streams – the winners of which will be announced in May 2027: The Catalyst stream will award partnerships seeking between £150,000 and £2m. It will close for entries on 5

(by Karma Loveday) The Environmental Principles Policy Statement (EPPS), designed to put the environment at the heart of policymaking, came into effect last week for the Northern Ireland Executive. Government ministers and officials now have a legal duty to consider the potential positive and negative effects on the environment of policy choices. The EPPS covers five environmental principles set out in law, including the polluter pays principle. The Country Land and Business

(by Karma Loveday) Scottish Water has expanded the number of monitored combined sewer overflows from 6% to 30%. According to its 2025 data release, over 1,000 new monitors were in action last year, taking the total to 1,287. Inevitably, this resulted in a higher number of recorded overflow events: with over 4.5 times more data locations available, the results showed four times as many overflow events occurring, but less than double the duration of events. The additional monit

(by Karma Loveday) Water UK has launched a new £25,000 National Watershot Prize, to support academics to crack tough water challenges. Applications are open between now and 2 November, for undergraduate researchers, postgraduate researchers, doctoral candidates and early-career academics who have recently published or are developing outstanding research to help the water sector meet water or wastewater challenges, including relating to climate change and population growth. Th

(by Verity Mitchell) Attendees at the River Summit & Festival in Henley last week made their passions and frustrations on river quality clear during lively debates involving local MPs and representatives of the Environment Agency, Ofwat and Wildlife and Countryside Link. Many were unconvinced by official cost estimates for re-nationalisation, particularly the financial obligations to bondholders. There was widespread disappointment that more radical solutions were not availab

(by Verity Mitchell) Andy Burnham’s first formal comments to Parliament on water revealed his continuing dissatisfaction with the industry. He highlighted his belief that “it’s an industry where the shareholders never lose and the bill payers never win,” stating “[it is] run in the private rather than the public interest”. Burnham also said that the independent review into the water sector by Sir Jon Cunliffe in 2025, which did not recommend nationalisation, was “limited” and

(by Karma Loveday) Bristol Water has become the latest water company to impose a hosepipe ban. Active since 27 August across its supply area, this is the first ban in the area for 50 years. It has been issued to protect water resources in the River Severn, following the issuance of a Drought Order by the Environment Agency. Bristol Water takes over half of its water from river sources, including the River Severn via the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. The Planning Inspectora

(by Karma Loveday) The Strategic Panel has highlighted resource constraints at Ofwat as the reason behind the delivery of three actions in its Roadmap to a flourishing market being jeopardised. The most senior body in the non-household retail market has published a progress report on the delivery of of the 34 actions identified in its September 2024 Roadmap – a comprehensive plan to enable a well-functioning, competitive market. Using a RAG rating, this showed that over a thi

(by Karma Loveday) Ofwat is consulting until 9 October on a new methodology for leakage calculation and reporting. This is primarily driven by the growing availability of smart meter data, and the need to make better use of it given leakage calculations currently rely considerably on estimates. Ofwat explained that today’s approach uses a water balance that compares distribution input with water delivered to customers and other accounted-for uses. This is compared against a b