Former Southern Water boss charged with conspiracy to defraud Law The former boss of Southern Water is among four of the water firm’s ex-employees set to face criminal proceedings for conspiracy to defraud. The Environment Agency (EA) alleges that between January 2012 and December 2017 Matthew Wright helped manipulate the operator self-monitoring testing regime by implementing “artificial no-flow events” at wastewater treatment works. The government [...]
Heat wave bottle jobs: Water firms set up emergency supply points in Kent, with tankers on standby Water With temperatures setting records for May over the long bank holiday weekend, emergency supplies of bottled water were sent to two major Kent towns and hundreds of Brits were hit with interruptions to their water supply. Distribution points were set up in Faversham and Ramsgate as a precaution, amid problems with infrastructure in the area. [...]
Macquarie to inject £1.2bn into struggling Southern Water Business Macquarie is to invest £1.2bn into the struggling utility Southern Water in a move that could prevent a possible breach of its regulatory license. The new equity investment plan will enable Southern, which supplies water to 2.6m customers in Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, to fund its Ofwat-approved investment programme for the [...]
Thames Water: Water boss bonus ban comes into force June 5, 2025 Six water companies including crisis-hit Thames Water will be banned from paying bonuses to senior bosses. New measures in the Water (Special Measures) Act come into force on Friday, prohibiting utility firms that oversee “poor environmental and customer outcomes” from offering bonuses to senior bosses. The companies impacted are Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, Anglian Water, [...]
Water bills to rise by an average of £123 January 30, 2025 Households can expect their annual water bill to rise by an average of £123 from April, more than the amount announced by the regulator last month, the sector’s industry body has said. According to Water UK, the average bill in England and Wales will jump from £480 to £603 in the year from 1 April, [...]
Water bills set for hefty hike as Ofwat judgement looms December 18, 2024 The water regulator Ofwat is set to allow bills to rise by at least 21 per cent in the next five years, as part of its long-awaited decision on the financial future of the scandal-hit industry on Thursday. Ofwat will reveal its final determination for how much water firms are allowed to hike their bills [...]
Ofwat orders water firms to pay £157.6m for missing performance targets October 8, 2024 Water companies will have to pay a £157.6m penalty after missing key targets on reducing pollution, leaks and supply interruptions while customer satisfaction continues to fall, Ofwat has said. Not one company achieved the regulator’s top category of “leading” while Anglian Water, Welsh Water and Southern Water fell into the lowest category of “lagging” while [...]
Macquarie owned Southern Water looks to borrow billions October 7, 2024 The move to borrow more cash comes following months of crisis at Thames Water, the fall-out of which is spilling out across the sector.
Government approval paves way for new Thames Water ‘mega-reservoir’ in South Oxford September 4, 2024 The government has endorsed Thames Water’s plans to manage water supply for the next 50 years, paving the way for a controversial new £1.5bn ‘mega-reservoir’ in South Oxford. Steve Reed, the environment minister, has approved the embattled water firm’s proposal—called its Water Resource Management Plans—in which the firm maps out its strategy to secure the [...]
Ofwat is now investigating all eleven of England and Wales’ water companies July 16, 2024 Ofwat is opening enforcement cases into four more water companies in a move that means it is now investigating every single water and wastewater company in England and Wales for the mismanagement of their networks and water treatment.