In a joint letter to water and wastewater company CEOs, David Black, Chief Executive of Ofwat and Emma Clancy, Chief Executive of CCW, have asked for more support to be given to customers.

The National Drought Group has forecast that average rainfall levels over winter will still not be sufficient to avoid impending drought or drought conditions next year.

Water companies are currently facing unprecedented levels of criticism and scrutiny, particularly on issues surrounding wastewater treatment and sewage discharges from storm water overflows. The supply chain has a key role to play in helping them to deliver a sustained and consistent operational performance with partnership and collaboration increasingly seen as the best way forward to achieving their goals.

Arup’s Olivia Bailey, Digital Water Consultant and Project Manager for Wastewater for Health, explores how monitoring biomarkers in wastewater has the potential to be the “canary in the coalmine” to provide an indication of human health for any future pandemic.

Participants at the latest National Drought Group (NDG) meeting have set out further action needed now and over winter to mitigate the impacts of drought on water supplies, agriculture and the environment next year.

In the context of ongoing criticism from regulators, NGOs, Parliamentary Committees and the public of the water companies’ unsatisfactory environmental performance, HUBER Technology talks about the key role sewage screens play in mitigating the impacts of unauthorised sewage discharges into rivers, lakes and the sea.

Thames21 has launched its Five Year Plan (2023-2028) with a call for more collaborative action to get the River Thames and its tributaries ‘climate-ready’ to tackle the impacts of floods and droughts.

Waterwise has published a new UK-wide water efficiency strategy through to 2030 - setting out the vision of ‘A UK in which all people, homes and organisations are water-efficient’.