Other stories from last week

(by Karma Loveday)

Southern Water has appointed former CEO of Kier Group, Andrew Davies, as chair designate. He has joined the board and will succeed Keith Lough, who has served as chair since 2019, on 16 July 2026. Davies has extensive leadership experience across infrastructure, construction and engineering, including at Wates Group and Chemring Group. 

The British Standards Institute has awarded Northumbrian Water Group with an ISO Innovation Kitemark (ISO 56001) accreditation for innovation management. Northumbrian is the first water company in the world to be so recognised for its structured and consistent commitment to turning new ideas into real benefits for customers, communities and the environment.

Last week was Waterwise’s Water Saving Week. The overall theme this year was ‘Protect water for wildlife,’ with daily themes exploring different aspects of the connection between human water use and wildlife – from abstraction to pollution and habitat loss. Waterwise called on people to take action, including through picking a water-saving pledge and seeing how small actions can add up to make a difference. 

United Utilities and Water Plus completed 4,660 water-saving visits to non-household customers in Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside between April 2025 and March 2026, saving at least 820m³ a-day, according to meter readings. The collaboration saw: data used to identify sites that could see the biggest benefits; Water Plus contacting and engaging these sites; and United Utilities funding a free water audit for each site, installing water saving technologies to taps and repairing leaks.

National Highways has reappointed WSP to lead the technical partnership supporting delivery of its Water Quality Plan, which targets the most impactful discharges from the strategic road network by 2030. Other partners in the programme are Mott MacDonald, Ramboll, Arup and AECOM.

Ofwat has published guidance on the midpoint review for the second stage of the Major Water Infrastructure Programme, which comprises the 30 large schemes set out at PR24. The midpoint review is to ensure the project is on track for Gate B, and takes place in the middle of the Initial Development stage, somewhere between Gate A and Gate B.

Yorkshire Water is running a pilot to relaunch the national Yellow Fish drain awareness scheme in its region. Working with River Holme Connections, the company has installed 43 Yellow Fish discs next to surface water drains in the New Mill area, to remind people that any waste entering them goes directly to the nearest watercourse, bypassing treatment. Anything other than rain entering the drains could potentially lower water quality in the local environment, and cause harm to wildlife.