NEWS

Severn Trent Services (STS) has announced it is applying for a Scottish licence on the same day the company warns “markets remain challenging”.

If approved by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, this will allow the company to provide water and sewerage services to Non-domestic customers north of the border.

The firms interim management statement said STS expected to deliver better performance in the second half than the first, but no significant upturn before the next financial year.

The group which also holds Severn Trent Water (STW) completed a £ 250 million 30 year bond last month at a coupon of 4.875%. STW reported operating expenditure in line with the boards expectations and below the level permitted by Ofwat in its price determination. It said net capital expenditure was likely to be between £ 450 million and £ 470 million not including costs associated with the adoption of private sewers in October. The private sewer transfer workload it said was at the lower end of the initial range of expectations. The company maintained it did not plan to introduce usage restrictions this year and is working to improve supply resilience.

Drinks giant Coca-Cola has unveiled how it will continue to hit “stringent” targets to reduce water usage in its first digital Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

As part of the “Reasons to Believe” sustainability report which follows GRI sustainability reporting guidelines “water stewardship” is one of four key areas focused on by Coca-Cola.

According to Coca-Cola the GRI has been publised in a digital format in a bid to increase transparency and sustainability of its operations and follows the key performance indicators set by the GRI.

Coca-Cola chief sustainability officer Beatriz Perez stated ” After receiving feedback from a variety of stakeholders we decided to make some significant changes to our sustainability reporting efforts. In addition to increasing transparency within the content we have taken a digital approach to make the report more user friendly and accessible on a variety of mobile devices. As we continue to strengthen our sustainability efforts we also will innovate the means by which we share our progress”.

The report states “Solid progress” has been made towards meeting water efficiency targets, with figures showing it has improved its water ratio by 16% compared to a 2004 baseline. As well as improving water efficiency for the eighth consecutive year figures show Coca-Cola replenished or offset 23% of the water used in production in 2010.

As a result Coca-Cola has also projected a 20% improvement in water efficiency by the end of 2012, which it says supports a long-term goal of becoming “Water neutral” by 2020.

In addition Coca-Cola is looking to improve water quality through wastewater recycling with figures showing that in 2010 90% of plants complied with wastewater treatment and discharge standards with a target in place to achieve 100% compliance by the end of 2012.

Welsh Water has been fined for pumping too much water from the River Usk and for abstracting without a licence.

The water company pled guilty to 35 separate incidents at Newport Magistrates Court (September 22) and received fines relating to activity on the River Usk between May 16 and July 2011 under section 21 (1) of the Water Resources act in a breach of its licence.

As a result the company were fined £ 2,000 and ordered to pay £ 4,000 in costs, plus a £ 15 victim surcharge.

Welsh Water has a licence to abstract a maximum of 318,220m3 a day from the river, depending on river flow, however on one of the incidents Welsh Water exceeded its water licence by 683% when it over-abstracted large volumes of water at its Prioress Mill pumping station, while on another occasion more than 50% of the rivers flow was abstracted.

According the the Environment Agency Wales (EAW) in total there were seven separate occasions on which abstraction should not have taken place at all and 28 days on which over abstraction took place. A spokesperson for EAW stated ” Our licences balance the needs of people and the environment and wildlife, the Usk is a prime river for Salmon and Sea Trout and we have limits in place designed to make sure there is enough water for their migration upstream whilst protecting water supplies. In this case these limits were ignored and the environment was put at risk, we will not hesitate to take action against breaches of this kind. Last year when we were potentially seeing some parts of Wales reaching drought conditions the company were at times taking half the flow of the River Usk when they should not have been abstracting”.

Welsh Water apologised for the calculation failures but said it did not breach its annual abstraction limit.

Speaking to edieWater a spokesperson for Welsh Water “We are sorry this breach occurred, it was a mistake and not the result of a deliberate wish to breach our abstraction licence, we have now installed a fail-safe system to ensure that mistakes about how much we can abstract from the Usk on any one day cannot recur”.

Water flows have improved in the UK’s rivers as a result of tighter rules on abstraction for businesses, water companies and agriculture, but there is still a way to go says the Environment Agency (EA).

According to the latest EA figures which show that more than 590 miles of rivers have had their water levels and flows restored with on average 55bn litres of water each year being returned to the UK’s rivers. But the EA warned that further action is still required to reduce the amount of water taken from an additional 210 sites across England and Wales. As a result it is calling on businesses to use water more resourcefully and implement water saving initiatives where possible.

EA head of water land and biodiversity Ian Barker stated ” There is still a lot to do and it will require businesses to use water more efficiently, reducing the amount they take from rivers that are under pressure. Water is a precious resource and we have to use it wisely, the amount of water used by business and people is directly linked to the amount of water there is in our rivers for fish and other wildlife”

The EA said the move to tighten abstraction licenses comes as parts of England prepare for drought this summer after an “exceptionally dry winter which has left rivers and groundwater low” adding that “pressure on water resources is set to increase”.

Following plans set out in Water White Paper “Water for Life” the EA has also launched a a “Restoring Sustainable Abstraction” programme in a bid to protect water levels.

In addition, funding has been secured by the EA to help water companies improve water levels and quality at 150 sites by 2015.

Environment Minister Richard Benyon stated ” We have seen over the last year the problems that a lack of water can create, environment damage caused when rivers run low, farmers unable to irrigate their crops and some water companies taking steps to protect water supplies”.

Water Industry Regulator Ofwat has announced that the average household water bill is to rise by 5.7% in 2012 – 2013 adding about £ 20 onto annual bills.

The increase which takes effect from April 1st 2012 will take the average household bill to £ 376 per annum.

Ofwat CEO Regina Finn explained that inflation was at the root of the price rise but that customers would feel the benefits longer term “ When we set limits on prices we listened to customers, they told us they wanted bills kept down, while maintaining safe reliable water  supplies. We challenged companies hard to deliver this and our decision meant that before inflation the average bills would remain broadly stable between 2010 and 2015. We understand that any bill rise is unwelcome, particularly in tough economic times. Inflation feeds through into water bills and this is driving these rises, we will make sure customers get value for money. Companies are investing £22bn by 2015 more than £ 935 for every property within England and Wales. This will deliver benefits to us all from continuing to improve reliability of supplies to cleaner rivers and beaches. If companies don’t deliver on their investment promises we will take action”.

Southern Water customers will see the biggest price rise for combined water and sewerage at £ 31, representing 8.2% rise, however Bristol Water will see the largest overall increase for water only at 8.8% or £ 15.

Conversely Dwr Cymru will see the smallest charge for water and sewerage customers at 3.8% or £ 16 per year, while Veolia Central customers will benefit from the smallest increase for water only at just 1.8% or £3 per year.