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.

Arq, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQ), a producer of activated carbon and other environmentally efficient carbon products, has released its 2024 Sustainability Report, demonstrating continued leadership in environmental technology, strong financial performance and progress across environmental, social and governance (ESG) priorities.

Chief Executive Officer Bob Rasmus said the year marked a major transformation for the business, combining growth with purpose. “Our 2024 Sustainability Report showcases a transformational year for Arq, where we successfully delivered exceptional financial results while staying true to our mission of enabling a cleaner and safer planet,” he said. “As we advance toward full nameplate granular activated carbon (GAC) production, we remain committed to transparency, innovation and sustainable value creation.”

Key 2024 highlights

Environmental leadership

• Mechanical completion and commissioning of the Red River facility, designed to address PFAS contamination challenges.
• Continued coal waste transformation at the Corbin facility, turning environmental liabilities into useful products.
• Energy-efficiency gains with surplus electricity generation from Red River operations.
• Maintained North America’s only vertically integrated activated carbon supply chain, reducing emissions through domestic production.

Social responsibility

• Zero-fatality safety record across all facilities.
• 202 employees supported through wellness and professional development programmes.
• Expanded community outreach and educational partnerships.

Governance and transparency

• Enhanced Board oversight of ESG through the Nominating and Governance Committee.
• 100% completion rate for ethics and compliance training.
• Broadened stakeholder and investor engagement.
• Collaboration with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on PFAS regulation and best practice.

Innovation and technology

• Over 140 patents and applications in activated carbon and related technologies.
• Comprehensive R&D programme with testing across more than 100 potential applications.
• Quality excellence with 6,000+ automation points and over 30 quality checks per production batch.

Strategic outlook

The report highlights the growing demand for granular activated carbon solutions following new US EPA PFAS drinking-water standards, which lower limits to 4 parts per trillion by 2030. Arq projects a potential 370-million-pound supply gap, positioning the company for sustained growth across municipal water treatment, industrial air purification and renewable natural-gas markets.

“ESG excellence is integral to our identity as an environmental technology company. Every product we manufacture and every decision we make is guided by our commitment to enabling a cleaner and safer planet while creating sustainable value for our employees, customers, communities and shareholders.”
Bob Rasmus, Chief Executive Officer, Arq

The full 2024 Sustainability Report, including detailed metrics and future commitments, is available to download from Arq’s Sustainability page.

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)

California faces growing pressure on its water resources due to climate change and population growth. The Syphon Reservoir expansion is a step towards safeguarding sustainable supplies and offers a model for other public agencies facing similar challenges.

IRWD pioneered recycled water infrastructure with the introduction of the globally recognised “purple pipe” system. The expansion of Syphon Reservoir builds on this legacy, enabling more recycled water to be stored and reused for irrigation and other non-drinking purposes, thereby reducing demand on potable supplies.

COWI’s involvement underlines its growing role in shaping Southern California’s water infrastructure. Previous projects include Anderson Dam Phase 1, Lafayette and Briones Reservoirs, Chabot Dam, Folsom Dam, San Vicente Dam, Lake Mathews, Nacimiento Lake, Lake Calavera, and Gene Wash and Copper Basin dams.

Quick Reference Links

• COWI
• Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD)

The investment and improvements we are making at Worsbrough are part of our programme to continue to improve water quality and river health. The new storm overflow tank will increase the site’s storage capacity. This will lower the frequency and duration of storm overflows discharging into local watercourses following periods of heavy and prolonged rainfall.

Our contract partners Ward & Burke and Barhale are condensing activities to work as quickly as they can to complete the project and keep disruption to a minimum. We’d like to thank local residents for their patience whilst we carry out this important work.

Quick Reference Links

• Yorkshire Water
• Ward & Burke
• Barhale

Curio Water will also work with Cranfield University and water sector partners to validate the technology under real operating conditions. up2e! will provide training, equipment, and marketing support to ensure smooth integration into treatment sites.nline ozonation system integrated into a water treatment pipeline.

Howard Marles, Chief Executive of Curio Water, said:

The Roturi® system represents an important advance for the UK’s water industry in tackling micropollutants. Many conventional technologies involve high energy use, large basins, and gas losses. This compact and efficient system provides a scalable and cost-effective ozonisation process that also reduces long-term operational costs.

Wolfgang Neuhaus and Ulla Poeschl, Managing Partners of up2e! GmbH, added:

Roturi® has proven its efficiency and reliability across multiple industries worldwide, improving gas-liquid mass transfer with reduced ozone demand and smaller reactor requirements. We are pleased to collaborate with Curio Water to support UK utilities in applying this technology.

Quick Reference Links

• Curio Water
• SKion Water
• up2e! GmbH
• Cranfield University