The Environment Agency has secured an Enforcement Undertaking from Anglian Water after two permit breaches led to unauthorised sewage being discharged into the North Sea.
Ofwat has confirmed its final decision to formally accept a £44.7 million enforceable package of undertakings from Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water.
The Environment Agency is reporting that record £8.5 million funding has been secured through enforcement action against water companies in the form of Enforcement Undertakings.
Ofwat has today proposed a £44.7m enforcement package following its findings that Welsh Water has breached its legal obligations in operating its wastewater treatment works and network.
The Environment Agency (EA) has assembled its largest ever team of investigators, enforcement officers and lawyers tackling water pollution, significantly strengthening its enforcement capability as part of a drive to build a tougher regulatory culture.
Ofwat has today confirmed that Southern Water has completed all the enforcement actions resulting from its 2019 investigation into the company.
Ofwat is seeking views on guidance it has issued setting out its approach to enforcement aimed at providing clarity to water companies, customers and other stakeholders - the ultimate sanction is High Court special administration order where the court is satisfied that the company's breach is serious enough to make it inappropriate for the company to continue to hold its appointment or it is or is likely to be unable to pay its debts.
Severn Trent has agreed to pay £600,000 to the Trent Rivers Trust following a pollution incident - the payment follows the Environment Agency's investigation into the pollution of a Leicestershire brook by the water company.
Severn Trent has agreed an Enforcement Undertaking (EU) with the Environment Agency and paid Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust £327,500 after an investigation which revealed that raw sewage from a blocked sewer had been discharged into a brook near Gloucester - impacting about 1.7km of the watercourse.
The Environment Agency has accepted an Enforcement Undertaking (EU) from Reckitt Benckiser (UK) Ltd to address a breach of environmental legislation following a trade effluent leak which led to the death of almost 400 fish.
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.”
ERG, the leading supplier of odour control systems and industrial gas cleaning & thermal systems, has been awarded the coveted King’s Award for Enterprise.