Crappy performance: Thames Water needs to clean-up its act
Extinction Rebellion Croydon is demanding that Thames Water stop illegally pouring untreated sewage into streams and rivers, and that they cease the payment of all bonuses, dividends and excessive executive wages until they have fixed the growing environmental disasters caused by years of excessive profit-taking and underinvestment.
Water companies pumped raw sewage into Britain’s seas and rivers for more than 9million hours over 2016-2021, an increase of 2,553per cent over five years.
Thames Water, which serves 15million people in and around the capital, has been named as one of the worst offenders.
Research shows the sewage overspills result from lack of infrastructure investment, which leads to environmental deterioration and presents a human health hazard.
Doing the right thing: XR Croydon protesters clean up the Thames Water sign. It’s more than the company is doing
To highlight Thames Water’s shitty reputation, Extinction Rebellion Croydon staged a protest at the company’s Beddington sewage treatment plant over the weekend. Unlike Thames Water, XR Croydon cleaned up their mess afterwards.
According to Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty, in a joint statement with Ofwat and the Environment Agency: “Nobody wants a child to ingest human faeces…
“The principal public health responsibility for ensuring human faeces and viable human faecal bacteria do not get into waterways people might use recreationally rests squarely with the water companies and their directors.”
Thames Water boss Sarah Bentley received a £727,000 bonus in 2022, on top of her £2million salary. This happened just as the Environment Agency condemned Thames Water over pollution.
More than three-quarters of the water industry in England is owned by international investment funds, private equity firms and businesses registered in tax havens. Since privatisation, these firms have paid out dividends of £65.9billion.
Extinction Rebellion is inviting everyone to Westminster next month to demand a safer, more equal future for all. Find out more here: https://extinctionrebellion.uk/the-big-one/
Read more: River from Tory Philp’s constituency runs brown with sewage
Read more: Paul Whitehouse hits out at ‘liquid death’ sewage dumps in UK rivers
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