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Pollution figures ‘the latest indicator of a water sector in total chaos’

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/pollution-figures-latest-indicator-water-sector-total-chaos

 A tanker pumps out excess sewage from the Lightlands Lane sewage pumping station in Cookham, Berskhire

CALLS to nationalise the water sector intensified yesterday after it emerged that serious pollution incidents in England jumped by 60 per cent last year.

The Environment Agency reported 75 major incidents that fell under categories one and two, which can severely harm the environment and human health.

Serious incidents doubled from 14 to 33 at crisis-hit Thames Water, the watchdog found.

Southern Water was responsible for 15 of the incidents and Yorkshire Water for 13.

Pollution incidents across all categories had increased by 29 per cent, with 2,801 recorded last year. 

Thames Water recorded the most incidents again at 523, followed by Anglian Water (482) and United Utilities (376).

The rise was attributed to underinvestment in new infrastructure, poor asset maintenance and reduced resilience due to the impacts of climate change. 

We Own It founder Cat Hobbs said the figures “are the latest indicator of a water sector in total chaos.

“The roots of this chaos extend all the way back to when Thatcher privatised water in the 1980s — effectively flogging the family silver for a quick buck.

“Since then, private shareholders have stuffed their pockets with gold, amassing £80 billion in payouts. 

“They’ve killed our rivers and let the infrastructure crumble, while bill-payers pick up the tab.

“Recent research shows that the cost of public ownership could be close to zero. This solution could also save the public £3-5bn a year, making publicly owned water a source of income for the Treasury.”

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Continue ReadingPollution figures ‘the latest indicator of a water sector in total chaos’

Dear Keir Starmer: End The Profit-Driven Sewage Scandal

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Republished from https://www.sas.org.uk/updates/dear-keir-starmer. Please let me know if you don’t want me republishing it.

An open letter to the Government, signed by a coalition of environmental and civil society groups

Dear Keir Starmer, Prime Minister and Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Environment and Rural Affairs,

We demand an urgent end to the sewage scandal through systemic transformation of the water industry – public and environmental good must be put before private profit.

A year ago, you began your premiership with a clear commitment to deliver on your election mandate to end the sewage pollution crisis and clean up our waters. On Monday, the Independent Water Commission is set to publish its final recommendations but it will fall fatally short if it fails to confront the root cause of the crisis: a system built towards serving private profit cannot deliver an end to sewage pollution.

Your election mandate has given you a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix our broken water system. But this will take more than incremental change—it demands a decisive break from the failed model that has deluged our coastlines, rivers and lakes with sewage.

The need for a full system overhaul is painfully clear. Since privatisation in 1990, water companies have paid shareholders over £74 billion in dividends—while burdening the system with £69 billion in debt. Despite repeated promises to invest, shareholders have actually withdrawn more than they have put in, meanwhile essential infrastructure has been left to crumble. In 2024 alone, untreated sewage was dumped 565,383 times across England and Wales. It’s a 35-year tale of broken pipes, broken promises and a fundamentally broken system.

The consequences of inaction are shocking. Coastal economies and communities are being hammered. Rivers declared ecologically dead. Pollution poisoning our wildlife. Thousands of people are falling ill after swimming in raw sewage. Yet water bills will keep rising – to service debt, to fund dividends – and so it is the public who will continue to pay the price.

Enough is enough. You must act now. Rebuild a system that people can be proud of, not angry about. A system that serves the public and protects nature – not private profit. Anything less would be a betrayal of the promise you made to the electorate.

Yours,

Surfers Against Sewage
River Action
Greenpeace UK
WWF UK
GMB Union
Compass
Zero Hour
Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland 
GMB Union
Public and Commercial Services Union
Green New Deal Rising
Wildlife and Countryside Link
Triodos Bank
Surfing England
The Wave Project
38 Degrees
Faith For The Climate
People & Planet
Medact
Health for XR 
Dirty Water Campaign
Blue Marine Foundation 
Women’s Environmental Network
Angling Trust
End Sewage Convoys and Pollution Exmouth (ESCAPE) 
SOS Whitstable
Campaign for National Parks
Centre for Alternative Technology
Finisterre
Carve Magazine
SurfGirl Magazine 
Planet Patrol
Rewilding Britain
Christian Surfers
Good Law Project
The Wildlife Trusts 
Clean Water Sport Alliance Wales
Clean Water Sport Alliance 
The Rivers Trust 
Right To Roam
Students Organising for Sustainability UK

Continue ReadingDear Keir Starmer: End The Profit-Driven Sewage Scandal

Raw sewage pumped into UK waterways for 4.7 million hours in 2024: ‘This will only get worse’

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https://www.bigissue.com/news/environment/sewage-pollution-uk-waterways-sas-environment/

Sewage is only supposed to be discharged following extreme weather. Image: Jeff Buck (cc-by-sa/2.0)

Some 27% of English billpayers have considered withholding their bill payments due to water supplier failings, a survey shows.

The public don’t believe private companies can fix the worsening sewage crisis, a report has found – and at least a quarter are considering boycotting water bill payments. 

Water bills will surge by an average of £31 per year over the next five years. 

Suppliers have justified the increase – which will bring the average annual bill to £588 by the end of the decade – as the only way to fund fixes to Britain’s crumbling sewage infrastructure.

But according to a blistering new Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) report, just a third (33%) of English adults believe that their supplier will take the necessary action to end sewage pollution.

And around a quarter (27%) have considered withholding their bill payments due to the actions of their water supplier. 

This disillusionment is little surprise. Pollution is surging: Water companies in England have collectively failed their targets to reduce pollution incidents, SAS’s 2024 Water Quality Report shows, with 2,487 incidents recorded in 2024. 

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That’s more than double the target set by the Environment Agency – and it’s the tip of the iceberg. In 2024 alone, raw sewage was released into UK waterways 592,478 times, for a combined 4.7 million hours. That’s the equivalent of 535 years’ worth of waste, pouring into the lakes and rivers people swim in, kayak through and drink from.

Article continues at https://www.bigissue.com/news/environment/sewage-pollution-uk-waterways-sas-environment/

April 2023 Surfers Against Sewage and Extinction Rebellion protests in St Agnes, Perranporth, Truro and Charlestown which unveiled spoof Blue Plaques to the MPs and Conservative Government who allowed raw sewage to be dumped in the sea (Image: Surfers Against Sewage)
April 2023 Surfers Against Sewage and Extinction Rebellion protests in St Agnes, Perranporth, Truro and Charlestown which unveiled spoof Blue Plaques to the MPs and Conservative Government who allowed raw sewage to be dumped in the sea (Image: Surfers Against Sewage)
Continue ReadingRaw sewage pumped into UK waterways for 4.7 million hours in 2024: ‘This will only get worse’

Sewage could have been pumped into Scotland’s rivers, lochs and seas every 90 seconds, warn campaigners

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/sewage-could-have-been-pumped-scotlands-rivers-lochs-and-seas-every-90-seconds-warn

The snow-covered peak of Beinn Eighe and the mountains of Torridon are reflected in Loch Droma near Ullapool, Wester Ross, December 3, 2023

RAW sewage could have been pumped into Scotland’s rivers, lochs, and seas every 90 seconds last year, according to a new report by campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS).

While Scottish Water recorded 23,498 sewage discharges lasting a total of 208,377 hours in 2024, this accounts for only 6.7 per cent of the company’s total network, the research found.

Just 1,116 of Scottish Water’s 4,080 “combined sewage overflows” — where sewage is released directly into waterways or the sea — appear on its real-time sewage discharge map.

That 73 per cent data gap means SAS’s Safer Seas and Rivers Service providing sewage alerts across Britain is forced to leave Scotland blank, but their latest report estimates the public are being put at risk with as many as 364,629 effectively unreported discharges a year — amounting one every 90 seconds.

SAS chief executive Giles Bristow slammed “Scottish Water’s reckless approach to monitoring and public safety.”

He said: “Scotland’s coastline, lochs and rivers are some of the most stunning on the planet, with surfers, swimmers and paddle boarders wanting to make the most of these beautiful blue spaces.

“But these waters are far from pristine.

“With no legal requirement to issue sewage alerts in Scotland, water users have no idea whether or not it’s safe to enter the water.

…

Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/sewage-could-have-been-pumped-scotlands-rivers-lochs-and-seas-every-90-seconds-warn

Continue ReadingSewage could have been pumped into Scotland’s rivers, lochs and seas every 90 seconds, warn campaigners

Quarter of adults consider refusing to pay water bills amid sewage outrage

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/quarter-adults-consider-refusing-pay-water-bills-amid-sewage-outrage

Money is stacked on top of an water bill

AS FRUSTRATION grows over failure to tackle pollution, new research revealed yesterday that over a quarter of adults in England have considered withholding water bill payments.

A new report from Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) has accused the water industry of falling short of the Environment Agency’s target to reduce pollution incidents by 40 per cent.

Instead, they recorded a 30 per cent increase to 2,487 incidents, the highest in a decade.

Polling 2,000 adults, SAS found that 27 per cent of people in England have considered not paying their bill due to the actions of their water supplier.

Water bills surged by 47 per cent this month and are expected to keep rising, with customers projected to pay £160 more in 2030 compared with 2024.

…

Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/quarter-adults-consider-refusing-pay-water-bills-amid-sewage-outrage

April 2023 Surfers Against Sewage and Extinction Rebellion protests in St Agnes, Perranporth, Truro and Charlestown which unveiled spoof Blue Plaques to the MPs and Conservative Government who allowed raw sewage to be dumped in the sea (Image: Surfers Against Sewage)
April 2023 Surfers Against Sewage and Extinction Rebellion protests in St Agnes, Perranporth, Truro and Charlestown which unveiled spoof Blue Plaques to the MPs and Conservative Government who allowed raw sewage to be dumped in the sea (Image: Surfers Against Sewage)
Continue ReadingQuarter of adults consider refusing to pay water bills amid sewage outrage