Category Archives: Water

Cadia goldmine could be source of some lead found in water tanks, miner says

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Exclusive: General manager says chemical analysis shows ‘slight overlap’ of mine lead and samples from local residents’ rainwater tanks

Chemical analysis has identified the Cadia Hill goldmine as a potential source of some of the lead found in samples collected from nearby residential rainwater tanks in central west New South Wales, the mine’s management has said.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority has been investigating the goldmine – one of the largest in the world – since May, when it issued Newcrest’s Cadia Holdings Pty Ltd with a draft pollution prevention notice and a draft licence variation regarding its management of emissions of dust and other pollutants. It followed local residents, including children, reporting heavy metals in their blood and rainwater tanks.

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Taps run dry on Thai island as tourism boom worsens water shortage

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Public urged to use water sparingly on Koh Samui, as authorities say they don’t want it to become ‘a disaster zone’

Authorities on Koh Samui are working to tackle a water shortage that has left taps running dry often for months, saying they do not want the Thai island to become a “disaster zone”.

A lack of rain and a resurgence in tourism has put intense pressure on supplies, prompting Sutham Samthong, a deputy mayor of Koh Samui, to urge the public to use supplies sparingly.

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Thames Water shareholder gives backing to crisis-hit firm

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USS support for turnaround plan comes as water company buckles under £14bn debt burden

One of Thames Water’s big shareholders has given its backing to the embattled water company, after the surprise departure of its chief executive and crisis talks with the government over its viability.

Thames Water, which is buckling under a £14bn debt burden and has embarked on an eight-year turnaround plan, is owned by a series of pension funds and other governments’ sovereign wealth funds. The second-biggest shareholder is a UK pension fund for academics, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), which holds about 20% and is the first investor to make public its support for the company.

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Exclusive: UK water giants recruit top staff from regulator Ofwat

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Demands for an end to the ‘revolving door’ as ex-Ofwat directors are hired by key firms

Two-thirds of England’s biggest water companies employ key executives who had previously worked at the watchdog tasked with regulating them, the Observer can reveal.

Cathryn Ross, the new interim joint chief executive of Thames Water and a former head of watchdog Ofwat, is one of several ex-employees working for water companies in senior roles such as strategy, regulation and infrastructure.

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Thames Water could delay accounts as turmoil in water industry grows

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Firm refuses to say when it will publish annual report; pressure builds on regulator Ofwat

Thames Water has refused to say when it will publish its annual report and accounts, which had been expected by investors next week, as concerns mount over the company’s financial viability.

The risk of delay will add to the turmoil engulfing England’s 11 privatised water companies, after a day in which board directors, ministers and regulators scrambled to restore calm as discussions continued over a potential temporary nationalisation of Thames Water.

The Environment Agency (EA) announced it was sending specialist investigators into water companies across England to secure evidence in the biggest criminal investigation into illegal sewage dumping since privatisation.

The experienced City troubleshooter Sir Adrian Montague was parachuted in to take over as chairman of Thames, a role he will take up on 10 July.

The prime minister’s spokesperson said it was for Ofwat “in the first instance” to monitor the financial resilience of water companies, adding to pressure on the regulator.

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Water firms push for bills in England to rise by up to 40%, say reports

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Plans drawn up to pay for cost of dealing with sewage crisis and climate emergency

Water companies are reportedly pushing for bills in England to rise by up to 40% under plans being drawn up to pay for the cost of dealing with the sewage crisis and the climate emergency.

The increases are due to be announced next year and could drive annual bills up from an average of £450 to £680 in parts of the country by the end of the decade, according to a Times report citing consultation documents.

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South East Water blames working from home for hosepipe ban

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Utility’s head says demand for drinking water has risen 20% since pandemic, outpacing supply

A water company has blamed more people working from home post-pandemic for a new hosepipe ban.

South East Water, which supplies more than 2m homes and businesses, will impose the first hosepipe ban of the summer on Monday, affecting households across Kent and Sussex.

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3M pays $10.3bn to settle water pollution suit over ‘forever chemicals’

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Settlement will provide funds to US municipalities over 13 years to test for and treat PFAS contamination in public water systems

3M Co has reached a $10.3bn settlement with a host of US public water systems to resolve water pollution claims tied to “forever chemicals”, the chemical company announced on Thursday.

The company said the settlement would provide the funds over a 13-year period to cities, towns and other public water systems to test for and treat contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

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South East Water imposes hosepipe ban after Kent and Sussex water shortages

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Some areas left with little or no water, forcing schools to shut and residents to fetch drinking water from bottle stations

A hosepipe ban is scheduled to come into effect across Kent and Sussex as a result of record demand for drinking water, South East Water bosses have said.

Parts of the region have been left with little or no water this week during the hot weather, forcing schools to shut and residents to fetch drinking water from bottled water stations.

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Concern over Loch Ness low water levels amid UK dry spell

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Fishery board reports shrinkage in size of River Ness as water scarcity alert issued for parts of Scotland

Concern has been raised about the water levels of Loch Ness and the River Ness amid the protracted dry spell affecting Scotland and the rest of the UK.

Brian Shaw, the director of Ness District Salmon Fishery Board, said there had been a dramatic shrinkage in the size of the River Ness. He told the BBC: “These conditions are not normally good for angling.

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Maps show how Kakhovka dam collapse threatens Ukraine’s bread basket

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Falling water levels in Kakhovka reservoir could imperil canals that feed some vital crop regions

The destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam has led to fears that a depleted reservoir will leave three critical regions in Ukraine’s bread basket without a key water supply.

This has led to warnings about the region and wider world’s food supply, with Ukraine accounting for 40% of global trade in sunflower meal, 35% of sunflower oil, and 5% of wheat, barley and corn exports.

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Thames Water accused of ‘flimsy PR stunt’ over bonus as boss’s pay swells

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Sarah Bentley lands £1.5m package despite saying she would shun bonus amid criticism of water companies

Thames Water has been accused of conducting a “flimsy PR stunt” as it prepares to report that its chief executive has landed nearly double her annual salary with a £1.5m pay package – after announcing that she would shun her bonus amid intense criticism of Britain’s water companies.

Sarah Bentley said last month that she and the firm’s finance chief, Alastair Cochran, would forgo their bonuses and any payments due under long-term incentive plans for the 2022-23 financial year.

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Iraq’s oil boom blamed for worsening water crisis in drought-hit south

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Pollution from gas flaring – the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction – is also a major concern in the oil-rich but extremely dry south

Western oil companies are exacerbating water shortages and causing pollution in Iraq as they race to profit from rising oil prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Water scarcity has already displaced thousands and increased instability, according to international experts, while Iraq is now considered the fifth most vulnerable country to the climate crisis by the UN. In the oil-rich but extremely dry south, wetlands that used to feed entire communities are now muddy canals.

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‘Elevated’ lead levels detected in water at far-north Queensland hospital

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Atherton hospital staff were offered blood tests but the state’s chief health officer says he would be ‘very surprised’ if they showed high levels of lead

Lead contamination has been discovered in the water at a new hospital building and at an Aboriginal health clinic in far-north Queensland.

The Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (CHHHS) announced that a number of water samples taken at the new clinical services building at Atherton hospital and at a health facility in nearby Yarrabah contained lead at levels that exceeded the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended guidelines for safe drinking water.

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South West Water under investigation over leaks and usage figures

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Shares in owner Pennon Group fall as it says Ofwat has launched inquiry into South West Water

South West Water is being investigated by the industry regulator over whether it accurately reported leaks and figures showing how much water is used by its customers.

Pennon Group, which owns South West Water and Bristol Water Group, told its shareholders Ofwat had announced an investigation into the company’s operational performance during 2021 and 2022.

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Historic Colorado River deal not enough to stave off long-term crisis, experts say

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Agreement between California, Arizona and Nevada will cut water consumption by 13% but experts warn river is still in serious peril

A hard-fought agreement between California, Arizona and Nevada to slash the states’ use of the shrinking Colorado River is only a temporary salve to a long-term water crisis that continues to threaten the foundations of life in the American west, experts have warned.

The deal, announced on Monday, between the three states that make up the lower portion of the sprawling Colorado basin will pare back 13% of water consumption from the beleaguered river over the next three years if adopted, averting the prospect of more stringent cuts imposed by the federal government. Backed by $1.2bn in federal funds, the bulk of the reductions are structured to encourage voluntary cuts taken by rights holders, in exchange for grant money.

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‘The whole thing stinks’: UK water firms to pay out £14.7bn in dividends as customers foot sewage costs

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With cost of cleanup to be passed on to bill payers, analysis shows they will also pay £624 more by 2030 to fund investor payouts

Water companies will pay an estimated £14.7bn in dividends by the end of this decade, while making customers pay for new investment to stem the tide of sewage pollution in seas and rivers, analysis for the Observer has revealed.

Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron denounced the billions going to shareholders as “absolutely scandalous” while families struggling with the cost of living would be facing increases in bills to pay for the sewage cleanup.

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Inquiry into Menindee ‘catastrophic fish deaths’ to consider ways to prevent future ecological disasters

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Terms of reference include water monitoring data, environmental conditions and whether community consultation was sufficient

An independent inquiry into the deaths of millions of fish in the Darling-Baaka River at Menindee in March will look at whether local management interventions could prevent future fish kills.

The terms of reference for the inquiry, which was announced last month, were released on Monday. They include an investigation of the environmental conditions and water monitoring data in the lead up to the fish kill, the success of the emergency management framework which saw New South Wales Police as the lead agency responding to an ecological and public health disaster and whether there was sufficient community consultation, particularly with First Nations people.

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Water testing after the Menindee fish kill shows a ‘chronically sick’ river

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New test results from the Darling-Baaka River show the system is ‘supercharged with nutrients’, expert says

Water testing results from Darling-Baaka River at Menindee indicate the river is “chronically sick” and raises concerns about the overall health of the Murray-Darling Basin, experts say.

The New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA) released the second round of test results days after the state government declared it would treat the deaths of millions of fish at Menindee in far-west NSW as a “pollution incident”.

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Labour accuses Tories of turning country into ‘open sewer’ in Commons water debate – UK politics live

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MPs debate Labour motion that would set aside parliamentary time to pass Labour’s water quality (sewage discharge) bill

Rishi Sunak is seeking to capitalise on his improved relations with the EU with hopes of an agreement to allow British passport holders to use e-gates when travelling in the bloc, Lisa O’Carroll reports.

On small boats, Starmer told This Morning that he wanted to stop the boats. Labour would focus on two policies in particular, he said.

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