(by Karma Loveday) Ofwat is to formally open its new Water Efficiency Lab to bidders tomorrow.   £5m of the total £25m available between 2025 and 2030 will be on the table in year one, with a maximum award per project of £1.5m. Innovators have until 10 March to submit their pitches, which must be focused on developing new technologies, data-driven tools and solutions that enable households and businesses to understand their water use and take steps to reduce it. Ofwat said po

(by Karma Loveday) The Environment Agency (EA), which licences abstraction, has said the current amount taken out of rivers, lakes and groundwaters is not sustainable. The regulator called for achieving greater water efficiency to become “a national priority” – particularly during the current drought. The comments came as part of the EA’s 2024/25 (pre-drought) review of Water Resource Management Plans. The key findings included:  Average daily water use per person was 136.5 l

(by Karma Loveday) In her annual report for 2024-25, the Environment Agency’s (EA) chief regulator Jo Nettleton celebrated the progress made to hold water companies accountable, despite some of the worst performance results for years being reported in the year. These include the 60% increase in serious pollutions documented in the EA’s July pollution report for 2016-24, and the industry achieving only half marks in October’s Environmental Performance Assessment. Nettleton sai

(by Verity Mitchell) Thames Water customer bills could be nearly 20% higher in five years' time if the rescue plan proposed by lenders is approved. That is according to reports of a research note from Barclays. Both CKI and Castle Water have reportedly complained that their alternative proposals have been sidelined in favour of the rescue plan being negotiated with Ofwat by London and Valley Water, Thames’ A creditor consortium. According to reports, Barclays’ research calcul

(by Verity Mitchell) Ofwat has introduced a cost change process to enable water companies to access additional revenue in the PR24 period. The adjustment process, promised as part of the PR24 settlement, is for the following critical cost areas: cyber security, PFAS, asset health, growth, large gated schemes, development of the Havant Thicket reservoir, and development costs for other major projects. Companies will be able to submit claims in 2026, 2027 and 2028. This is a si

(by Verity Mitchell) Severn Trent has announced half-year results and that chief executive Liv Garfield will step down at the end of December. After 11 years at the helm, she will be succeeded by James Jesic, currently capital and commercial services director at Severn Trent and managing director of Hafren Dyfrdwy. Jesic is a chartered engineer, with a PhD in chemical engineering and has spent his career working in many parts of the organisation. Revenues increased by 18% to

(by Karma Loveday) Ofwat has indicated a muted response to the PR24 provisional redeterminations from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for the five water companies that appealed their 2025-30 regulatory settlements. The CMA has not yet published stakeholder responses to its October draft decisions, but in a summary shared by Ofwat of the key points it has raised, the regulator welcomed the bulk of the Authority’s judgement. It said the CMA decisions are “within 1%

(by Karma Loveday) Water minister Emma Hardy promised a “full White Paper” in response to the Cunliffe Commission recommendations, and a Water Reform Bill “early in this Parliament” when she gave a keynote address at British Water’s annual conference last Monday. The minister’s speech indicated that the Government’s reform package will be ambitious and wide ranging. Change, she argued, is needed because water is an essential public service, vital for growth, and fundamental f

(by Karma Loveday) The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) reiterated its call for a single social tariff to be introduced to end the postcode lottery of water affordability support, as it published its Water Mark report for 2025. This provides an at-a-glance view of each company’s performance across areas important to customers, drawing on customer research, complaints data and operational performance reports (see table). The 2025 Water Mark showed water companies supported 2m

(by Karma Loveday) Defra has convened a new group, to operate until 2030, to try to ensure there is a water workforce of the size and competence needed to deliver the £104bn AMP8 and major projects programmes. At least 30,000 new people are needed to fulfil these commitments. The Water Skills Strategic Group, co-chaired by Defra and Energy & Utility Skills, brings together senior leaders in Government with those from across the water sector and its supply chain. The inaugural