(by Karma Loveday) Phosphorous removal at sewage treatment works is having a positive effect on the ecological health of rivers, according to a study from the Environment Agency and University of Stirling . Reduced phosphorus levels and improved ecological indicators were both strongly associated with rivers in eutrophic sensitive areas, where significant investment in phosphorus removal at sewage treatment works has occurred. Thirty of 38 sites showed dual improvement. Busi

(by Karma Loveday) A new report has recommended that additional regulation is considered to support the critical and emerging data centre sector, while safeguarding water resources. The WRc research, funded by the Strategic Panel’s Market Improvement Fund, advocated the following: A reporting framework including policy interventions to enable easier benchmarking of data centre water use. This would consist of mandatory, centralised reporting of (at least a subset of) the metr

(by Verity Mitchell) Anglian Water Services Financing has confirmed that it will discontinue the engagement of S&P as one of its external credit rating agencies providing ratings coverage. This is subject to the successful redemption in full of £200m of guaranteed bonds due in 2029, which included a requirement to maintain rating coverage from S&P.  The proposed discontinuance follows an internal review of the resource demands involved in supporting a third rating. The compan

(by Karma Loveday) Microsoft is about to launch a free digital skills training programme for women in the water sector. TechHer for Water is part of Microsoft’s National Skills Initiative and is delivered in partnership with the UK Government. All women in water are invited to sign up for five 90-minute online sessions running on dates throughout April. These cover: Cloud AI Power Platform Copilot and Agents Security essentials Microsoft said the programme is “by women, for

(by Karma Loveday) The Water Innovation Implementation Programme — a new part of the Ofwat Innovation Fund — opened for applications last week. It is designed to help move innovations from successful trials to implementation at scale. Formally open until 2030, the programme is initially being run as a trial with a review point scheduled for March 2027. £40m is available across two streams:  The Early Adopter & Fast Follower stream: Applicants can request £100,000 — £1m   in

(by Karma Loveday) If the construction industry is to deliver the Government’s Ten Year Infrastructure Strategy, urgent improvements are needed in supply chain capacity, innovation and collaboration. That’s according to the Institution of Civil Engineers’ (ICE) 2026 State of the Nation report. Following a series of roundtables and interviews with water, energy and transport experts, the ICE made the following recommendations:  Supply chain capacity and productivity —  Westmi

(by Verity Mitchell) Thames Water has made a new request for more funds and more flexibility in disbursement under its emergency facilities. So far, it has drawn £1.426bn of the initial £1.5bn available under the super senior facility agreed with its A creditors. On the 12 February, Thames launched a process to allocate £823m of additional funds — the first part of an ‘Accordion’ facility of £1.5bn. Thames has now secured this initial funding commitment. This brings the tota

(by Karma Loveday) The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has said Defra’s response to its report on implementation of environmental laws relating to protected land and freshwater sites for nature is “disappointing and will not deliver the urgent action needed”. OEP chief executive Natalie Prosser explained: “In our report, published in December, we concluded that the legal framework was adequate but was not being implemented effectively, or at the pace and scale neede

(by Karma Loveday) Northern Ireland’s (NI) minister for agriculture, environment and rural affairs Andrew Muir has set out eight interventions planned to strengthen regulation and enforcement for wastewater pollution. In a Ministerial Statement in the NI Assembly, he shared the following intentions:  Legislating for stronger fines and penalties —  “I intend to introduce a Fisheries and Water Environment Bill in May to modernise enforcement powers by increasing the maximum fin

(by Karma Loveday) Defra is to bring forward secondary legislation with accompanying guidance to update the WaterSure scheme, but with some adjustments to the proposals it consulted on last summer. The department consulted between 21 July and 1 September on the following proposed changes to the national affordability scheme, which currently caps bills for low-income households on means-tested benefits who need to use high levels of water — because they have either a qualifyin