Its a big time for action on sewage!

The UK water system is broken. There were at least 604,833 discharges in the UK last year. The equivalent to over 200 discharges a day. This is despite legislation requiring water companies to only discharge sewage in ‘exceptional circumstances’ – following very heavy rainfall. Water companies have made sewage-free days the exception. And all water companies in England are under investigation for criminal wrongdoing as a result.  

Every day, we hear from people who have to face going into polluted waters if they want to jump into the big blue. It’s no surprise then that hospital admissions due to waterborne diseases such as dysentery and Weil’s disease have increased by 60% since 2010.  

Water companies are supposedly struggling with the problem, having driven our sewage system into the ground over the past 30 years whilst driving up their debt. And yet, last year, water companies have continued to pay shareholders dividends. And they appear to be getting away with their illegal activity and financial fudgery, with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. 

We need change

With sewage higher on the agenda than ever before, and having been elected with a huge mandate to tackle sewage pollution following actions from campaigners around the country, including our infamous turd tour, the new Government must start to tackle the problem.

Having promised some changes ahead of the general election, we welcome the Government’s plan to take action and deliver these things by ‘putting the water companies under special measures’.

This means holding water company executives to account. However, we know that with these measures alone, we won’t tackle the problem. That is why we’ve called for a review of the water system as a whole. Thankfully, the new Government have agreed to do just that. Tomorrow they are set to launch this review and we will be keeping a sharp eye on what it will include, to make sure it will look at long-term solutions to the big problems we see. But with time ticking by, there are also things the Government can add to the bill currently heading through Parliament to start to turn around the pollution in our blue spaces before the review comes into force.

What we want from a review

Something needs to change. More than just a promise of change 10 years down the line from the systems that have been failing us for decades. We need transformational reform which will tackle the cracks in a broken system. That is why we called for the UK Government to launch a review into the system as it stands with the aim of turning the tide on the public disgrace. And we are pleased to hear that they have promised just that. But we can’t take our feet off the pedal now. 

We know that those profiting from the pollution plaguing our rivers and seas are pushing the government for more of the same. Hoping to cling to their money-making scheme, whilst customers pay more and more for less and less. 

End profit for pollution 

That’s why we are demanding this review look into water companies’ ownership. Making sure companies aren’t just running to plump offshore shareholders’ pockets, but people in the UK who pay for a service. For far too long this crucial service has been stripped of its resources to deliver on its basic requirements. With distant corporations milking their companies with little impact on themselves. The review can help us understand how the government can put this disgraceful scheme to an end. 

Enforce the law 

This is also why we think the review must look at how regulators hold polluters accountable. Having let the water companies drive their businesses into this mess, we must ask – what have they been doing this whole time? Why have they not called for an end to this madness? And at what point were they going to step in? Campaigners have done an amazing job at calling out the pollution but they have been stepping in for a failing regulator. We must ask what changes they must make to hold businesses accountable, not aiding and abetting their lies. We are not asking for much. Just for a water system that abides by the law. 

Make sure our favourite blue spaces are the first to turn around 

We also accept that even when the incentives are moved away from profit and an end to pollution, this won’t happen overnight. That is why we are calling for the priority to be placed on the places we surf, swim and paddle and those areas most important to nature. That will mean people are free to get in clean water as soon as possible, reducing the risks to their health and catastrophic impacts on our most important places for nature. 

Uses natural solutions 

We also know we are in this place because our existing sewage network cannot cope. But that doesn’t mean we have to just pour more concrete everywhere. In a lot of sites, the burden can be taken off systems by working with, rather than against nature, planting trees to store up more water that would have otherwise overloaded the system, working to filter water to make it easier for treatment centres to clean water and cutting costs as natural solutions often don’t break the bank.

Reveals the truth 

We also got into this mess with water companies being able to hide their operation in murky waters. Hiding their activities from those who pay for it and are most impacted. We know that to reform the system, this must change and that is why the review must ensure water companies are honest about their performance. Revealing the full truth of issues to ensure they can be effectively tackled.  

It may feel like simple stuff but after years of secrecy, poor regulation and the ability for huge profits to benefit the few, our water system is on its knees. That is why we have called for a review and how we believe we can finally bring it back to its feet. 

What we want from the Water (Special Measures) Bill

A necessary step, the review will look at long-term solutions to the big problems we see. But we also have the opportunity to call on the government to make some immediate, easy fixes now, through the Government’s Water (Special Measures) Bill currently working its way through the House of Lords.

The Bill is currently set out to ‘place the water companies under special measures‘ according to the new Government. We are calling on the Government to amend the Bill as it stands to include some crucial measures. These are:

1. The re-affirmation of existing legal requirements on water companies to only discharge untreated sewage in exceptional circumstances.

With water companies discharging sewage into blue spaces around the UK daily, and receiving little to no consequences, we want to understand that this new government intended to hold water companies to the law as it stands.

2. Increase funding for the regulators to carry out the monitoring, enforcement and prosecution required to deliver on the Bill’s requirements and existing legislation.

Having had their budgets cut by nearly 50% over the past 15 years, the Environment Agency is failing to deliver the regulation required to hold water companies to account. That is why they must be properly funded to regulate the industry.

3. Apply a legal duty on water industry regulators to improve the Environment and protect Public Health, in place of the requirement to make a profit.

Currently, the financial regulator of the water industry is required to ensure water companies deliver economic growth, but not clean water and a healthy environment. This is hugely skewing the things they allow water companies to do and the things they prioritise.

4. Make clear the conditions a Water Company would be taken into Special Administration.

Whilst companies are failing to comply with the law and deliver on basic financial and environmental requirements, they continue to operate as usual. We are asking the Government to clarify when enough is enough, and when they would be taken back by the government and ownership changed. Businesses need to know when enough is enough and incentivised away from running companies aground.

5. Remove provisions within the Bill that make customers, and or taxpayers liable for bailing out water company debt.

Currently slipped into the bill is a provision which could make customers and taxpayers liable for picking up the tab for the debt accrued by failing companies. This is despite having paid for a service which has not been delivered for decades. All whilst shareholders have extracted astronomical profits. If a water company collapses or is taken into special administration, we want to ensure shareholders and creditors face the price, not the general public.

We will be pushing for these amendments as the water special measures bill passes through Parliament. Keep an eye out for when you can help, asking your MP to support these calls when it heads to the House of Commons over the coming months.