The UK’s water watchdogs are not fit for purpose
A new report paints a damning picture of regulation riddled with “gaps in oversight”.
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Who let the BBC inside Thames Water?
The water company has made a calamitous mistake in letting TV cameras capture its day-to-day operations.
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Could the UK’s water bosses really go to prison?
Steve Reed, the newly minted environment secretary, has big plans to clean up Britain's rivers. But, how well will they…
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Exclusive: thousands of sewage spills missed and misreported due to “dodgy data”
The government says a network of 15,000 monitors will end the sewage crisis. But there’s growing evidence they don’t work.
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Does bad press matter to water companies?
Despite a series of negative stories about the state of our waterways, the firms in charge of them are still…
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New Labour would have already nationalised Thames Water
The example of Railtrack should remind us that even business-friendly governments aren’t always averse to public ownership.
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Sold down the river
England’s broken water industry is a case study in the dangers of dogmatic privatisation. It is time to rethink our…
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Who killed Thames Water?
Britain’s biggest water company is at risk of insolvency, and there is plenty of blame to go around.
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How quickly are sea levels rising?
Swathes of Norfolk will be underwater in the coming decades, reveals an interactive data project by the New Statesman.
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The Parliament Brief: Is the UK prepared for more flooding?
The Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey faced questions from MPs on whether the country is ready for the winter.
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Private water companies’ thirst for profit will never be sated
The UK’s largest water company is pitching for a 61 per cent increase in bills.
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The new shadow environment secretary faces a “key test for Labour”
Steve Reed must take the plunge on nutrient neutrality.
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“We don’t want to run out of water”: tackling the UK’s drought problem
As we face increased flooding and heatwaves, investment in our water infrastructure is urgently needed.
Toxic lead pipes are yet another instance of water companies’ environmental insolvency
Privatisation has led to the fleecing of customers.
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Public ownership of water is the only realistic option
Profit-hungry companies will never share the costs of adapting to climate change fairly.
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Exclusive: UK water companies have failed to replace three million toxic lead pipes
Exposure to lead over time, even at lower levels, can cause damage to the brain and nervous system in children.
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“We need water companies that are fit for purpose”: the CEO of Ofwat on regulating England’s polluted rivers
After a decade at Ofwat, David Black remains optimistic that the industry can somehow be encouraged to stop pumping sewage…
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“I put 7,000 oysters in the skip”: the fishing industry fights for survival in polluted waters
With sewage spilled into waters around the UK hundreds of times a day, one shellfish producer says the industry is…
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Sewage map shows potentially illegal “dry spills”
An investigation by the campaigning charity Surfers Against Sewage has identified sewage dumping even when there’s been no rain.
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Did Tory MPs really vote to dump raw sewage in Britain’s rivers and seas?
Not quite, but their government is responsible for our polluted waterways.
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