Today: Belize, BottledWater, Caribbean, Desalination, Ecuador, France, India, Israel, Italy, Palestine, Panama, PFAS, Right2Water, Sanitation, Tunisia, UK, US, Vietnam, WaterBusiness, WaterCrisis, Zimbabwe
Every day the most important news on water and sanitation from around the world, compiled by the Blue Community Network, defending water as a common, public good and a human right.
UK: Thames Water spent £136m on securing emergency funding, leaked document suggests
‘Atypical expenditure’ document suggests utility’s costs over 12 months outstripped the £130m it paid in fines.
Thames Water spent at least £136m on the effort to secure emergency funding over 12 months, according to a leaked document that suggests costs outstripped the £130m the struggling utility paid in fines.
The law firms Linklaters and Akin Gump received £45m and £26m respectively during the financial year to March 2025, and another 10 firms were paid more than £1m, according to a document listing “atypical expenditure” for the year, seen by the Guardian. It is the first time the fees paid by Thames Water have been detailed publicly.
UN warns fuel shortage in Gaza reaches critical levels
Joint statement by OCHA, UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, UNRWA, WFP and WHO
Fuel is the backbone of survival in Gaza. It powers hospitals, water systems, sanitation networks, ambulances, and every aspect of humanitarian operations.
Photo: A technician operates the desalination plant in Deir al Balah, Gaza. Fuel shortages have brought critical infrastructure like water and sanitation systems to the brink of collapse. Photo: OCHA
UN OCHA / Israel – Palestine – Right2Water
In the middle of summer, Israel has reiterated that Palestinians in Gaza are prohibited from entering the sea.
On Saturday, the Israeli army reiterated to the population of the Gaza Strip that they are prohibited from entering the sea, and that troops will punish any attempt to do so, while much of the displaced population is living in tents on the coast in high temperatures.
‘Entering the sea is prohibited. Army troops will enforce any violation of these restrictions.” We urge fishermen, swimmers and divers to avoid entering the sea,” warned Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-speaking spokesman for the Israeli armed forces, in a statement on the social media platform X.
Vietnam: Ensuring clean water supply for people
Providing clean water for people in Phu Yen commune, Phu Yen Water Supply Branch focuses on protecting water sources, ensuring 24/7 water supply for customers in the area, contributing to improving the quality of life of the people.
Currently, Phu Yen Water Supply Branch serves over 5,000 customers in Phu Yen commune (in the old Quang Huy town area). The main input water sources are from Tac stream and Ngot stream with 2 water treatment stations with a total capacity of 4,300 m3 /day and night. The water source area is zoned, with boundary markers placed to protect the water source; coordinate with local authorities to propagate and mobilize people to comply with regulations on water source protection.
Tunisia is the fourth largest consumer of bottled water in the world.
On Saturday, 12 July 2025, resource development and management expert Hussein Rehili told Mosaïque FM that Tunisia ranks fourth in the world in terms of per capita bottled water consumption, with an annual average of 244 litres per person.
He added that this equates to a monthly cost of between 135 and 140 dinars for the average Tunisian family, and emphasised that improving the quality of drinking water in Tunisia would require significant investment.
Italy: Legambiente intervenes on the issue of the Porto Empedocle desalination plant: “In the name of emergency, public funds are being squandered”.
The association points out that, given the investment in civil works, it is unlikely that this is a truly mobile plant.
“For several years now, we have been strongly opposed to such plants,” says a statement. “The Sicilian region now wants to acquire them not so much as an emergency supply source, but as a structural resource, with all that this entails. These plants are energy-intensive, polluting bathing waters and marine ecosystems while providing limited resources, and will place a heavy burden on citizens’ pockets through their water bills when the system is fully operational.’
Zimbabwe: No Water From the Tap. They’re asked to pay a tax anyway
Harare’s daily water production has steadily declined over the years due to a mix of deferred maintenance, contamination, and leaky pipes and valves in the distribution network, according to a 2015 World Bank report. In 2005, the city produced approximately 600 megaliters each day — that’s 600 million liters, or 158.5 million gallons, enough to fill 240 Olympic-size swimming pools. By 2008, daily output dropped to around 400 megaliters, then fluctuated between 400 and 600 megaliters over the next few years. However, by February this year, the supply had fallen further to just 350 megaliters per day.
Saint Lucia: What Future for Caribbean Water?
National water providers have been largely seen and treated as preservers and protectors of the valuable source of life, but in most cases, not allowed – even forbidden by law – to go into the business of producing and selling water on the commercial market.
Saint Lucia’s Water and Sewage Company (WASCO), for example, as a state entity, is in the business of producing, distributing and selling water – and at ridiculously lower levels than required for its survivability (like $12 per 1,000 gallons).
But the nation’s provider of this essential resource must – by law — sell at uncompetitive prices.
The Voice (St. Lucia) / WaterBusiness – Caribbean
US: NYC Council bills pushing for more public bathrooms, drinking fountains become law
A bill meant to ensure that New York City doubles its number of public bathrooms officially became a law Saturday.
A companion bill that would boost the number of drinking fountains is also on the books and a measure to increase overdose prevention training in city jails is likewise a local law as of July 12.
All the measures were approved by the City Council last month and then sent to the mayor, who has 30 days to either sign the bills or veto them. Under New York City’s Charter, the bills automatically become law if the mayor takes no action in that time.
Gothamist / US – Sanitation
India: The water of human kindness
A cancer survivor in Delhi is on a mission to make potable water accessible for all.
Every night, while the city sleeps, 75-year-old Alag Natrajan quietly begins his day. By 3.30 am, he’s already in his garden in the upmarket Panchsheel Park area, filling water tanks in the dark. For over eight years, this cancer survivor—known lovingly as Delhi’s “Matka Man”—has been on a mission: to quench the thirst of thousands who have nowhere else to turn for clean drinking water. Natrajan provides clean, potable water to over 7,000 Delhi residents, mostly slum dwellers, construction workers or homeless people. Once the water tanks are full, he takes his van—especially designed to carry the water tanks—around Delhi to fill over 100 matka (earthen pots) stands.
France’s largest tap water ban exposes global threat of ‘forever chemicals’
A sweeping ban on tap water in eastern France has thrust the dangers of “forever chemicals” into the global spotlight, raising urgent questions about water safety and chemical pollution in communities worldwide.
In July 2025, authorities in Saint-Louis and 15 neighboring communes near the Swiss and German borders ordered about 60,000 people—including infants, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and those with compromised immune systems—to stop drinking tap water due to dangerously high levels of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). These chemicals, used for decades in firefighting foam at a nearby airport, were found at four times the soon-to-be-enforced European Union safety threshold.
Belize: A Tap of Hope
In the vibrant village of Independence in Southern Belize, 26-year-old Jasmine stands in her kitchen, watching her two young children play in the yard. For the first time, she turned on the tap and saw clean, safe water flow freely to her home. Her smile says it all—relief, joy, and a sense of security she hasn’t felt before.
Jasmine, a mother of a 6- and 5-year-old, is a domestic cleaner working to clean office buildings in the southern community of Independence Village, Stann Creek. Though she spends her days tidying and cleaning other spaces, it has been a daily frustration to manage her home without potable water. Unfortunately, Jasmine knows all too well the daily challenges of living without reliable access to water.
Unicef / Belize – Right2Water
Scientists discover overlooked factor that plays huge role in safety of household drinking water: ‘Critical to safeguarding children’s health’
“We were interested in understanding the role of the household environment.”
A team of researchers from the University of California-Berkeley found that bacteria such as E. coli is easily spread through drinking water. This is especially true when the water is stored in containers such as jerry cans or buckets.
The findings, published in the journal Nature Microbiology, showed that a home’s environment plays a large role in how safe drinking water is, and that water is a key source of transmission for harmful bacteria, particularly in developing nations.
Most previous studies, researchers said, had focused on how bacteria is transmitted from animals to humans. But the study found that water had a higher rate of bacteria strain-sharing than human stool or animal feces.
TCD – the cool down /
Panama: Environmental crisis in Azuero. Pollution of the La Villa River
The La Villa River is a vital source of water for over 94,000 people in the Azuero region and is currently facing an unprecedented environmental crisis. Crossing the provinces of Los Santos and Herrera, this river is the main source of drinking water in Panama’s Arco Seco region. However, pollution caused by pig farming, the excessive use of agrochemicals and poor waste management is threatening the river’s existence and public health in the region.
Recent inspections by the Ministry of the Environment (MiAMBIENTE), the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA), the Ministry of Health (MINSA), the National Police and the Environmental Police revealed pig waste, agrochemicals and heavy metals in the river.
Ecuador: “This is the biggest drinking water emergency that Quito has ever experienced,” says Pabel Muñoz regarding the landslide that has affected services in the south of the city.
Around 18,000 dump trucks’ worth of debris, equivalent to 180,000 cubic metres, must be removed from the affected area.
Muñoz, the mayor of Quito, said that the emergency in the La Mica sector is the largest event in the city’s history.
“This is for two reasons: the number of people left without a supply and how long it will take us to repair it,” he said.
El Universo (Spanish) / Ecuador – WaterCrisis
See also:
- Ministra de Ambiente cuestiona al Municipio de Quito por gestión del agua. La ministra de Ambiente, María Luisa Cruz, señaló incumplimientos del Municipio de Quito sobre la gestión del agua. El Comercio
- Quito enfrenta la mayor emergencia de agua potable de su historia. Quito enfrenta su peor crisis de agua potable por la rotura de 350 metros de tubería, con 45% de avance en reparaciones, según el alcalde Pabel Muñoz. El Diario
Zimbabwe: Water meters must also ensure equitable access
THE announcement that water meters will be introduced in Zimbabwe’s major cities has sparked widespread debate, and rightly so.
At a glance, the idea appears progressive and pragmatic: metering water is a globally recognised tool for promoting accountability, curbing waste and ensuring consumers pay for what they use.
But beneath the surface, a lot needs to be done to ensure the system will operate efficiently and that it will be beneficial to all residents.
The introduction of the water meters has to be accompanied with the upgrading of infrastructure, otherwise there is risk of turning a fundamental human right into a transactional service accessible only to those who can afford it.
UK: Whinging water bosses plan to hit families with summer surge pricing after complaining too many are filling up pools
WHINGING water bosses have complained to ministers that too many Brits are filling up their paddling pools in the heatwave.
They are also plotting to clobber families with higher summer charges under controversial surge pricing plans.The Sun / UK
