Thames Water is the last of six UK water companies to have a legal claim issued against it via the Competition Appeal Tribunal for allegedly misleading its regulators as to the number of discharges of untreated sewage it made into rivers, lakes, coastal areas, and other waterways causing damage to the environment.

The Environment Agency (EA) has confirmed that the water companies will have to pay significantly increased charges for water quality permits with effect from 1^st June 2024.

The government has set out measures to tackle pollution at source and enable the construction of thousands of homes, as it publishes a list of over 140 wastewater treatment works legally required to be upgraded in areas affected by nutrient neutrality advice.

Water UK has accused Ofwat of loading water companies with a huge amount of paperwork and creating a “labyrinthine framework of intense complexity” to assess the water companies’ AMP8 Business Plans.

Ofwat has confirmed that it is delaying publication of its draft PR24 determinations for the water sector until after the General Election.

The Chair of the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.(EFRA ) has this morning written to the CEOs of United Utilities and South West Water (SWW) to raise the Committee’s serious concerns over the recent incidents involving sewage being illegally pumped into Lake Windermere, and the parasite outbreak in the water network in Devon.

Ofwat has launched a consultation on its proposals to release Thames Water from binding commitments and undertaking resulting from the competition investigation it opened in June 2019 after allegations that the water company was abusing its dominant position to harm competition in the business retail market.