Levels of two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in England’s rivers have fallen by about 30% over the past decade, according to new Environment Agency monitoring data. The assessment points to improved control at industrial discharge points and some wastewater treatment works, but also identifies gaps where conventional plants lack advanced PFAS removal processes such as activated carbon or high-pressure membrane treatment. For civil and environmental engineers, the findings signal likely future upgrades to sewage works, tighter discharge consents and more stringent design criteria for treatment infrastructure.

Thames Water has reached 100 days since declaring a drought across London and the Thames Valley, with key storage such as the Farmoor and Queen Mary reservoirs still below long‑term average levels despite recent rainfall. Groundwater in several Chalk and Thames Gravels aquifers remains depressed, limiting recharge to strategic sources and sustaining pressure on abstraction licences. Civil and water engineers face continued constraints on network planning, leakage control and future resilience schemes, with no immediate scope to relax existing demand‑management measures.

Rio Tinto and its Rhodes Ridge Joint Venture partners are committing A$28 million over five years to establish a 7,500‑sq‑km Toad Containment Zone between the Indian Ocean and the Great Sandy Desert, modifying or decommissioning 685 pastoral water points to block cane toads before they reach the Pilbara iron ore province. The barrier is intended to protect about 27 million hectares of habitat and at least 25 vulnerable native species, including northern quolls and ghost bats, from a projected invasion within two decades. For miners, success could avoid materially higher environmental approval hurdles and long‑term compliance costs tied to ecosystem damage and Indigenous cultural impacts on bush tucker species such as goannas.