Other stories from last week

Ofwat has launched the invitation to tender for its new £75m Water Efficiency Campaign. It is seeking a consortium featuring marketing expertise, consumer insight and knowledge of the water or utility sectors to act as an end-to-end delivery body – to design, deliver and evaluate a behaviour change campaign that makes an impact, is grounded in evidence and insight, and reflects the needs and expertise of the sector.

RSE and Siemens have signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining an ambition to integrate Siemens’  digital, automation and AI technologies into RSE’s modular water treatment systems to deliver efficient and scalable solutions. Feasibility and pilot projects will begin this year, moving toward full-scale delivery in 2026 and beyond. Priorities will include exploring the decarbonisation of infrastructure and the development of net zero water treatment processes.

Defra has highlighted that the Environment Agency has its largest ever budget to regulate water quality this year. The cash injection of £189m, funded by water company fines rather than the taxpayer, means funding is up 64% since 2023/2024. This is set to enable 10,000 inspections. Defra added that the higher budget is teamed with efficiency savings of £23m over 2024/25 agreed under the Spending Review, and will be boosted further by provisions under the Special Measures Act to enable the EA to recover the costs of its enforcement work from companies. 

The London Authority’s Infrastructure Coordination Service has saved Londoners hundreds of days of road disruption since April 2024. The partnership brings together multiple utility providers to carry out infrastructure upgrades simultaneously, reducing the need for repeated excavations and roadwork permits. Thames Water reported it had successfully completed 23 joint working projects which equated to over 400 days of reduced disruption.