Northumbrian Water said its total dividend payment would rise by 6.7% to 11.27p.

BBC: NEWS | Business | Water firms boost profit streams

Severn Trent's shares fell 1.6% to 1, 538 pence in morning trading in London, while Northumbrian Water's dipped 2.4% to 333p.

BBC: NEWS | Business | Water firms boost profit streams

Yorkshire Water, Northumbrian Water, Northern Gas, and Northern Powergrid said the plans aimed to tackle future changes in population and climate.

BBC: Generic water works

Northumbrian Water said it was confident the steps would improve the bathing water, but added there were sources of pollution beyond its control.

BBC: Northumbrian Water to put ?6m into Saltburn water works

Scientists commissioned by Northumbrian Water are now monitoring an estuary at Amble, Northumberland, to find out if numbers of birds are in decline.

ECONOMIST: For some, sewage is pollution. For others, it's nutrition

On the Firth of Forth, says Northumbrian Water's Mr Spray, large populations of scaup, a diving duck, vanished after the effluent was cleaned up.

ECONOMIST: For some, sewage is pollution. For others, it's nutrition

Also involved in the project are Gateshead Council, Northumbrian Water, the National Trust and The Forestry Commission with additional funding from The Heritage Lottery Fund and SITA Environmental Trust.

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Northumbrian Water, which supplies 4.6 million people in England and Gibraltar, also said it was committed to cutting its leakage levels, and that it had met the targets imposed by Ofwat.

BBC: NEWS | Business | Water firms boost profit streams