Half a million-pound financial penalties have been introduced in the government’s latest crackdown on water companies - companies that flout environmental rules now face faster penalties of up to £500,000 in the latest set of reforms.
Yorkshire Water has paid a record £1 million to charities after polluting a Harrogate watercourse, following an investigation by the Environment Agency.
Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey is expected to announce tougher penalties and fines on water companies this week which will be reinvested back into a new Water Restoration Fund, making polluters pay for damage they cause to the environment.
UK water companies are invited to join an upcoming webinar which will explore how the sector can take indirect potable reuse (IPR) from concept to full-scale operational reality.
James Sumsion, CEO of predictive water intelligence specialists Kohtari, says the water sector needs to take a giant leap forward, so that it can anticipate and act upon water quality issues - rather than merely react.
Ray Moulds, Sales Director at Flood Control International, takes a look at how automated sliding floodgates are supporting secondary containment at water and sewerage company sites.
With the UK government demanding a 50% reduction in storm overflow spills by 2029, the era of reactive management is over. Speaking in the House of Commons on 21 July 2025, then environment secretary Steve Reed said, “This Government will cut water companies’ sewage pollution in half by the end of the decade.”