Sewage scandal goes to the High Court

  On Wednesday 5 to Thursday 6 July, the High Court will hear a legal challenge that aims to force the Government to toughen up...

Toxic chemical combinations found at over 1,600 river and groundwater sites across England

New analysis of Environment Agency data appears to reveal a worrying level of chemical pollution in rivers and other freshwater sites across England.1 The...

Wild boar liver can be used to map PFAS contamination

A new German study uses the liver of wild boar to map PFAS contamination in the habitat of these animals. The study focused on 66...

How old is that microplastic? A new way to estimate the age of microplastics...

Researchers have developed a new way to estimate the age of microplastics found in the upper oceans. The method involves a combination of analyzing...

Near real-time data added to popular Sewage Map

Near-real time alerts of raw sewage discharges have been added to the interactive Sewage Map provided by charity The Rivers Trust, and the group...

New water treatment technology for organic pollutants

Sponsored content: Arvia developed and refined a unique next-generation water treatment process, called Nyex Rosalox™, designed to target and destroy persistent organic pollutants. 

Utilities commit to smart water installations to help avoid sewer spills

Water technology firm SDS has completed the installation of its latest smart rainwater management systems at homes in Forton, Lancashire, and Deal, Kent, as...

Tool aims to improve the assessment of chemical persistence in the environment

Consultancy firm Ricardo has developed a seemingly first of its kind Persistence Assessment Tool to provide manufacturers and importers of chemical substances and products,...

Innovate UK funding for solution to tackle PFAS

London-based chemical technology firm Puraffinity has developed an innovative approach to eliminating PFAS from water supplies, with funding from Innovate UK. Its solution is a...

Reflections on a recent water industry event about micropollutants

Multiple solutions to the challenge on emerging contaminants were under discussion at British Water’s recent micropollutants conference. Here, Dr Fabio Bacci reflects on key...

Ofwat and the EA must go further: Lords’ report on sewage pollution welcomed by...

How might the water industry be better regulated to reduce the sewage pollution that floods waterways in England and Wales? A report from the...

CIP micropollutants research published by UKWIR

Thirteen research reports have just been published, which aim to boost the water sector’s knowledge of microplastics and further the understanding of anti-microbial resistance...

Prioritise tackling toxic emissions from tyres, urge experts

A new briefing paper from Imperial College London attempts a deep dive on the pollution produced by the particles sloughed off from vehicle tyres....

Cloud computing: Ohio derailment damage appraisal grapples with conflicting accounts

As details of its spilled cargo have come gradually to light, the Ohio train derailment has elicited “worst of all time” pronouncements, and a...

Can better monitoring and testing help to tackle nitrogen pollution?

  By Dr Calum Preece Improving the monitoring and mitigation of major pollution trends is one of the most important areas of environmental research. It is...

Measuring oil contamination in soil

Petroleum hydrocarbons in soil continues to be an area of interest for scientists as they are the most common contaminants that are toxic to...

New initiative aims to use Earth observation and geospatial data to detect sewage spills

Ordnance Survey is working with consultancy firm CGI to investigate the possibilities of using Earth observation data to detect sewage from space. Launched by...

Project uses satellite data to detect waste sites on Earth

A new computational system uses satellite data to identify sites on land where people dispose of waste, providing a new tool to monitor waste...

Eating one freshwater fish equals a month of drinking ‘forever chemicals’ water, says US...

A new study appears to find that consumption of just a single serving of freshwater fish per year could be equal to a month...

Against the grain: What can be done about microplastics in soils and digestate?

Microplastics are everywhere: We know that much. But should we be worried? What can we do about it? Some of the speakers at Aqua Enviro's European Biosolids and Bioresources Conference, in late November, presented findings from a project aiming to understand the levels of this contaminant in compost and AD digestate. A change in the policy landscape seems imminent, as Envirotec found out.