SOCOTEC UK & Ireland, a leading provider of testing, inspection and certification services, has signed its largest-ever water quality monitoring contract with Yorkshire Water, worth tens of millions of pounds.

The new seven-year partnership, with an optional three-year extension, marks the first contract of its kind to be awarded under Section 82 of the Environment Act 2021. SOCOTEC will deliver comprehensive water quality monitoring services upstream and downstream of Yorkshire Water’s assets to strengthen data transparency and support the company’s environmental obligations.

The project, led by Commercial Manager James Teale and Business Unit Director Isabell Holling, represents a significant milestone for SOCOTEC within the environmental monitoring sector. It aligns with both organisations’ goals to publish real-time water quality data by 2030 and improve transparency around environmental performance.

“I am thrilled we have been selected as the supplier for such a monumental contract. Our partnership with Yorkshire Water has been strong for over 15 years, and we are now looking forward to helping them meet their Continuous Water Quality Monitoring obligations under Section 82 of the Environment Act 2021.”
Isabell Holling, Business Unit Director, SOCOTEC UK & Ireland

Under the agreement, SOCOTEC will be responsible for the installation, maintenance and calibration of 736 water quality monitoring stations over the first five years. The company’s Water Quality team will use advanced monitoring systems, including its proprietary AquaHawk technology suite, to collect and verify data within one hour of acquisition.

“This partnership marks a significant step forward in how we approach water quality monitoring. The scale and ambition of this project reflect our commitment to transparency and environmental responsibility. Working with SOCOTEC’s expertise and technology, we’re ensuring customers and communities have access to accurate, real-time data that supports a healthier, more sustainable water environment.”
Bethany Harris, Project Manager, Yorkshire Water

SOCOTEC’s UK CEO Matthew Marriott added that the initiative sets a new standard for industry transparency and data reliability. “We’ll be providing real-time, trustworthy data available to the public within one hour of collection – utilising the expertise and innovation of our team to best effect.”

SOCOTEC Group CEO Hervé Montjotin commented: “At SOCOTEC, we are committed to safeguarding water quality through advanced environmental expertise. Across Europe, our 300 water experts provide trusted solutions spanning real-time monitoring, effluent compliance, and hydro-ecological diagnostics. This contract reinforces our mission to act as a leading partner for water-related compliance and risk management.”

The partnership underscores both companies’ commitment to transparency, data integrity, and sustainable water management practices across the UK.

The Water Council, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to advancing freshwater technology and water stewardship, has strengthened its international reach through new collaboration agreements with water technology clusters in France and Spain.

The memoranda of action (MOA) were signed in late September during and ahead of WEFTEC in Chicago, the world’s largest conference for water and wastewater professionals. The agreements aim to promote collaboration and exchange of ideas, create access to new markets for members, and support global water innovation.

Executive Director Karen Frost represented The Water Council in signing an MOA with Eric Servat on behalf of French clusters Aqua-Valley and Aquanova, jointly known as Pôles EAU. The partnership commits the organisations to promote each other’s initiatives, facilitate business connections, and act as strategic resources for companies expanding into the U.S. and French markets. The new MOA builds upon a previous collaboration established in 2014.

The signing took place on 26 September at the French American Chamber of Commerce’s “Water4Future: The Great Lakes Example” event in Chicago, which convened students, educators, UNESCO representatives, diplomats and economic development specialists to discuss sustainable water solutions.

“If we’ve learned anything the last few years, it’s that water struggles can happen anywhere at any time. That’s why it’s vital for The Water Council to work with clusters around the world in pursuit of a common goal: advancing water technology to solve global water challenges.”
Karen Frost, Executive Director, The Water Council

Three days later, on 29 September, Frost also renewed a longstanding MOA with Xavier Amores Bravo, Director of the Catalan Water Partnership (CWP) in Spain. The partnership, first formed in 2018, has already produced significant outcomes through virtual and in-person business exchanges between U.S. and Catalan companies.

A joint venture between Catalan firm SIGMADAF and Wisconsin-based Clearwater Industries emerged from this collaboration, resulting in the installation of four wastewater treatment systems in the U.S., with more expected this year. Additionally, Catalan company BGEO recently joined The Water Council to introduce its open-source digital twin solutions for water networks and urban infrastructure to the U.S. market.

“We treasure our relationship with the Catalan Water Partnership, one of our long-standing international collaborators, and we are excited to deepen our relationship with Aqua-Valley and Aquanova in France,” Frost added.

South East Water has applied to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for a Drought Order to help conserve water stored in its Ardingly Reservoir and protect drinking water supplies for customers across Sussex.

The application follows the driest spring in the south east since 1893, which has placed significant pressure on local water resources. South East Water’s Ardingly Reservoir, which supplies around 228,000 customers in Haywards Heath and the surrounding areas, currently stands at 27.6 per cent full.

Earlier this year, the company was granted a Drought Permit by the Environment Agency to vary the conditions of its abstraction licence. Despite measures such as repairing leaks, transferring water between regions, injecting additional supplies into the network and introducing a hosepipe ban across Kent and Sussex, exceptionally low rainfall has continued to impact supply resilience.

“This year has been exceptionally dry, and the River Ouse catchment in Sussex has only experienced two years – 1976 and 1893 – with lower spring and summer rainfall in its 155-year record. Consequently, the River Ouse, where we take water from for supply and to refill our Ardingly Reservoir, is running low.

Therefore we are applying to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for a Drought Order to help conserve the remaining water that is stored within our Ardingly Reservoir.”
Nick Price, Head of Water Resources, South East Water

South East Water, which serves 2.3 million customers across Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire, is continuing to work closely with regulators and follow its official Drought Plan to ensure supplies are maintained.

The company has also announced plans to remove some of the current exemptions within its Temporary Use Ban for Sussex customers from Friday 17 October, further strengthening efforts to preserve local water supplies.

Customers are encouraged to play their part by using water wisely and following water-saving advice available on the company’s website.

The launch of Kronoa Northern Europe OÜ forms part of a wider corporate reorganisation that brings all international operations under the Protech Continental Group structure. This integration aims to improve coordination between subsidiaries, optimise customer service, and enhance delivery of its comprehensive range of industrial and water treatment solutions.

Kronoa Engineered Solutions, a long-standing partner of Protech Continental Group, specialises in the manufacture of progressive cavity pumps designed for demanding environments such as biogas production, wastewater treatment, and large-scale industrial plants. The new subsidiary further strengthens this alliance, expanding the availability of advanced pumping technology across the European market.

“The opening of our subsidiary in Estonia is a key milestone in the international expansion strategy of Protech Continental Group, in close cooperation with Kronoa Engineered Solutions. It will allow us to be closer to our European customers, provide faster technical support, and reinforce our commitment to innovation and reliability across all our pumping solutions,”

Domingo Serrano, Managing Director, Protech Continental Group

From its base in Tallinn, the new operation will focus on sectors such as biogas, wastewater treatment, and medium to large-scale treatment facilities, providing tailored solutions to meet local market requirements.

With this expansion, Protech Continental Group continues to strengthen its network of specialised subsidiaries across Europe and Latin America, reinforcing its position as a trusted industrial partner delivering reliable, energy-efficient pumping and process solutions.

Available as a subscription-based software service, Flood Platform is the first purpose-built tool developed to connect and standardise flood modelling workflows with Flood Modeller. Built on Microsoft Azure technology, it offers users a flexible, scalable and secure environment for uploading data, managing permissions, performing analysis, and collaborating across teams and organisations.

With the frequency and intensity of flooding and extreme weather events increasing globally, many infrastructure and water management professionals face challenges in handling large, complex datasets. Flood Platform helps consolidate and visualise this information, enabling faster, evidence-based decision making for projects that protect communities and assets.

“At Jacobs, we integrate digital, data and AI capabilities throughout our global delivery portfolio to solve complex client challenges. Flood Platform demonstrates how cloud-based technology and automation can improve infrastructure planning and modelling – helping clients make more informed decisions and achieve faster project delivery and strengthened resilience.”

Amer Battikhi, Executive Vice President, Jacobs

Originally developed for internal use, Flood Platform has supported Jacobs’ project delivery for over 15 years. Following strong demand from clients, the system has been refined and expanded into a global subscription service. It has already played a role in major initiatives such as Melbourne Water’s Flood Mapping Programme and the Environment Agency’s Oxford-Cambridge Arc Flood Risk Investment Study, which supported the unlocking of more than £100 billion ($134 billion) in potential economic value.

Flood Platform leverages Jacobs’ expertise across digital solutions, cloud integration, cybersecurity, data management and AI to help clients deliver more resilient flood infrastructure programmes. It acts as a central hub for collaboration, simulation and analytics, improving efficiency and reducing duplication across complex flood risk studies.

More information about the Flood Platform can be found at www.floodplatform.com.

However, space constraints remain a major barrier to SuDS implementation. Green infrastructure often demands large areas that might otherwise be developed for residential, commercial or leisure use. ACO highlights that grey systems can help overcome this challenge by supporting green infrastructure in confined urban spaces — for example, using channels in car parks to direct rainwater to ponds or incorporating filtration zones for areas with higher pollution loads.

Mike Simpson Lane, Managing Director of ACO Technologies, commented:

In recent years, the UK has experienced more severe droughts and floods than ever before. The way we look after water will soon have a clear impact on life in the UK as more areas face water stress. Expertise on sustainable drainage is niche but vital, so we’re urging all involved in projects that have a drainage component to seek out those with the knowledge, skills and solutions needed to create a drainage system that is right for both the scheme in question and the environment.

No two projects are identical, so it is crucial that drainage requirements, space limitations, budgets and future changes are carefully considered from the outset. Partnering with experts will lay the foundation for effective and environmentally beneficial drainage and help to mitigate the ongoing water crisis currently afflicting the UK.

Quick Reference Links

• ACO Technologies
• UK Government Guidance on SuDS
• CIRIA SuDS Manual (C753)

Project manager Paul Delves explained:

As heavy rainfall drains into the sewer network it can overwhelm it, causing flooding from manholes and issues for customers with their home bathrooms and toilets. Our models showed that the capacity of the sewers was inadequate to deal with this and increasing demands on the network, so the project focused on installing larger pipes to hopefully help to alleviate many of these problems.

The project involved staged road closures to allow open-cut methods for the pipe replacement. Collaboration with BCP Council and local residents helped minimise disruption, and the scheme was delivered ahead of schedule.

The works also brought community benefits, with Hillbourne Community Centre receiving car park improvements after hosting a temporary compound during construction.

The Waterloo area has also experienced wider land drainage problems, which remain under the responsibility of BCP Council as Lead Local Flood Authority. Wessex Water continues to support efforts to address these surface water issues.

Looking ahead, Wessex Water is set to increase its investment in environmental improvements, with plans for 2025–2030 outlining a £580 million programme to reduce storm overflow discharges, deliver more nature-based solutions and promote sustainable rainwater management – more than double the 2020–2025 investment.

Quick Reference Links

• Wessex Water
• YTL Construction
• BCP Council