Is this water's worst moment?

Water’s worst moment? Our Pre-construction Manager, Curtis Rothwell, has some thoughts on the state of the water market, the fundamental changes that are coming in the sector, and what it all means…  

1 - Highlights and analysis of the Independent Water Commission report

Jon Cunliffe’s Independent Water Commission report had many highlights and consequential findings…    

The end of Ofwat

Serious pollution incidents have happened under the watch of the current regulator Ofwat. Notably, Thames Water made national news when they were fined over £122m in May this year for unauthorised sewerage spills, and failures in reinforcing their network.

Ofwat has been considered too light-touch over these matters, and the public have had enough, certainly when high bonuses and dividends are paid out compared to a low service. It has been recommended the UK government sets up a new regulator.

My initial thoughts were, doesn’t this open more questions to closing answers? Would this be effective or would we continue with the same problems further down the line? I read a comment saying it’s like “putting lipstick on a pig”. Funny, yes, but this is dire straits.

On reflection, the new regulator would not adhere to public sector pay controls (which if you didn’t know, are low). It appears the UK government are waking up to the fact you need the best people to have the best service, and that isn’t by running things on the cheap.

With areas such as an improvement on systemisation too being at the forefront, it sounds a lot better than Ofwat.

Consumer Council for Water becoming an Ombudsman

For incorrect bills or leaks on water mains, customers currently complain to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW). It’s a fancy title, but actually it is an independent body. It’s not linked to the UK government and does not have legal powers.  

It has therefore been recommended that this becomes an official ombudsman, meaning it will have official government employees, a clear complaints procedure and become a legally binding consumer watchdog.

My thoughts on learning this were that I couldn’t believe this hadn’t been done before. I don’t have any personal experience dealing with the CCW (luckily), but it’s good to see the CCW are being prioritised, and the government are elevating this important organisation.

Compulsory smart meters

Like we have seen on other utilities such as electric, smart meters are coming to water. There are a wide range of reasons this has been recommended, but of course making consumers aware of their water consumption is always going to be environmentally positive.

I have been thinking, will this reduce our bills? Probably not, it didn’t with electric because all our standing charges went up. That said, if I can spot a leak in the early stages because of this new meter, I’m all for it. Nobody likes water damage (recent problem for me…).

2 - Spills, penalties and wider investigations into the sector

Can you believe its August? Our 2025 year in utilities so far – water splashes and authorities burn.

Anglian Water to face a penalty of £62m for failures in maintaining their sewerage networks, which resulted in severe sewerage spills following the country’s weather storms. Regulator Ofwat called it “a serious breach and unacceptable”.  

Anglian Water has responded positively, acknowledging their shortcomings and stating that “reducing pollution and spills is our number one operational focus”. 

However, they joined a list of other authorities who have faced penalties this year:

• Thames Water fined over £122m in May 2025 for failures in wastewater operations and breaching rules in dividend payments.
• Yorkshire Water agreed to spend £40m to improve storm overflow and support the ground Great Yorkshire Rivers.
• South Staffs started paying customers back £700,000 following a five-year price review in 2024.

 Ofwat have said this is all part of a “sector wide investigation” on wastewater management, and they aren’t joking. Firms under investigation are:

• United Utilities
• Severn Trent Water
• Southern Water
• Welsh Water

 We’re entering the latter stages of 2025, but the water saga will flow much further...