Revealed: the ‘black box’ wastewater trade that rakes in millions for UK utility companies 9 October 2026 at 01:00

Revealed: the ‘black box’ wastewater trade that rakes in millions for UK utility companies

9 October 2026 at 01:00

Exclusive: Firms made more than £340m last year from processing industrial and commercial wastewater at sewage works that are unable to remove many chemical pollutants

Water companies in the UK made more than £340m in revenue last year by pouring billions of litres of industrial and commercial wastewater into sewage treatment works that experts say are not designed to remove most chemicals, leaving pollutants to pass into rivers, seas and farmland.

Water companies in England are required by law to take industrial wastewater and issue permits called “trade-effluent consents” that allow businesses to send it to sewage works, though water companies can refuse applications.

Stockpile food – and wash your hands: is that really how to prepare for environmental catastrophe? | George Monbiot 8 October 2026 at 01:00

Stockpile food – and wash your hands: is that really how to prepare for environmental catastrophe? | George Monbiot

The Guardian

By: George Monbiot

8 October 2026 at 01:00

The UK state is dumping its responsibilities on our doorsteps, while green-lighting policies that lead us closer to crisis

Would you mind fixing the NHS? And while you’re at it, could you please build an anti-missile system in your garden? Then regulate the banks, replace the water mains, tax the very rich and use the proceeds to rebuild our schools. Well, come on people: what are you waiting for?

I exaggerate, but this isn’t very far from the approach taken by the government’s Prepare campaign. Crucial functions, way beyond the scope of individual action, are dumped on our doorsteps while those in power fail to act. As a result, our national resilience is arguably lower than at any time since the second world war. At the Labour conference last week, Andy Burnham promised “a Britain where people feel the country has got their back again”. To make good on that pledge, he will have to change almost everything.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

South West Water owner taps investors to fix infrastructure after sewage spills 7 October 2026 at 10:14

South West Water owner taps investors to fix infrastructure after sewage spills

The Guardian

By: Joanna Partridge

7 October 2026 at 10:14

Pennon slashes dividend and launches £550m cash call ‘to drive improved outcomes for customers and communities’

Burnham, take note: water shareholders have their uses

The owner of embattled South West Water has slashed its dividend and launched a cash call to investors as it attempts to fund infrastructure investment, days after it was hit by a record £7.9m fine for hundreds of sewage spills.

London-listed Pennon said on Wednesday it would tap investors for £550m, as part of a £1bn investment “to drive improved outcomes for customers and communities”.