Other stories from last week

(by Karma Loveday)

Ofwat’s former CEO David Black has joined consultancy BRG as a managing director in the European Economic Regulation practice, based in London. In his new role, he will advise firms and investors across regulated industries as they navigate shifting regulatory frameworks, the transition to net zero and broader environmental challenges, including the delivery of major infrastructure projects globally.

Residents in Rhondda Cynon Taf were advised to boil their tap water before drinking it following an issue at Welsh Water’s Maerdy Water Treatment Works on 21 May. The company quickly resolved the issue which was affecting the chemical dosing process. At the time of writing, a precautionary boil water notice remained in place.

Scotland’s first minister John Swinney has appointed a slimmed down new Cabinet of nine secretaries including himself, from 12 previously. Gillian Martin has taken up post as Cabinet secretary for climate action and rural affairs, within which responsibility for water sits. 

Dame Helen Ghosh has been formally appointed as chair of the Office for Environmental Protection and will take up post on 1 June.

South East Water has provided an update on its activities to boost resilience, following recent outages. The latest activities included: a significant expansion of operations, maintenance and alternative water teams to strengthen response to outages; completing a comprehensive water quality review; undertaking the first alternative water workshop in Kent with community members and local councils to co-create local alternative water plans – Sussex and western region events will follow; a new internal bottled water station app to provide real-time stock monitoring; a new partnership with Water Direct to enhance operational capacity and improve vulnerable customer support; and final commissioning to deliver the Bewl Water Treatment Works to Rotherfield transfer main, bringing 5m litres per day of additional capacity online for 46,000 customers in Tunbridge Wells and Crowborough.

The Environment Agency has published guidance on the Surface Water Investment Model (SWIM) approach – a new way of accounting for the total benefits achieved by a package of small sustainable drainage (SuDS) measures, by appraising them as a single intervention. The EA said the approach will enable funding approval to be front-loaded over a longer period and across multiple financial years. The guidance should make it easier for parties to make a business case for packages of SuDS measures, where this is large enough to realise a meaningful reduction in surface water flood risk and serve as a tool for resilience.

Scottish Water has launched a ‘Soak Up The Rain’ campaign. With the message “Grow your garden and help stop floods,” people are urged to reduce pressure on drainage networks by adding plants and garden borders, switching to permeable paving where possible, and installing water butts to collect rainwater.

Business Stream has reported securing £2m in contracts with Catholic organisations across England since 2024. Broker Wodr delivered a competitive tender for purchasing platform Churchmarketplace two years ago, resulting in the appointment of Business Stream as its exclusive water retailer. Since then, 170 Catholic organisations including schools and dioceses have joined the framework to reduce their costs while improving water efficiency.

Ofwat has published the next batch of guidance for its new Major Projects Programme. This deals with procurement and Gate D submission and assessment. 

Amey has appointed Chris Gray as delivery director for water, environment and energy. He joins from Aecom, where he spent over 25 years, most recently as head of water, UK&I, Europe and India. 

Smart meter estate operator Calisen Group has appointed Gary Adams as operations director for water. He joins from Northumbrian Water where he led a £160m end-to-end metering transformation programme. He has worked across regulated utilities and large-scale transformation programmes for over 20 years.