🇬🇧 Plans by UK water suppliers to completely eradicate "water poverty" by 2030 are now at risk of failure, according to the Consumers' Council for Water (CCW).
Starting in April 2025, water and sewer bills are set to jump 34%—a sharp increase, especially considering that even before this increase, some 1.8 million households were already spending more than 5% of their income on water.
The situation is further complicated by the drought in London and the Thames Valley which has lasted for 100 days; Between March 1 and September 30, 2026, precipitation reached only 34% of the levels recorded in 2024.
Julie Morton, head of water resources at Thames Water, stated that the prolonged summer heat had caused reservoir levels in London to drop to 56%.
Meanwhile, the quality of water supplies in the UK remains poor; In some cities the water supplied was found to contain fecal material.