If you’re of a certain age, you may remember Feargal Sharkey and Paul Whitehouse in their respective careers as post-punk singer and comedian. These days, you’re more likely to see them on our TV screens raising awareness about the state of the UK’s streams and rivers.
There has been a growing number of concerned voices raising questions about how water companies have been allowed to pollute our watercourses unchecked for so long. Whilst shareholders have been paid dividends from profits, companies like Thames Water are in huge debt and are now asking for customers to foot the bill for repairs and long overdue upgrades to infrastructure.
The water industry regulator Ofwat has just sanctioned eyewatering increases in customer bills to the sum of 44% in one part of the country. Bill payers in England and Wales will pay an average of 21% more for the water they use over the next 5 years under Ofwat’s proposals, many will pay considerably more.
The recent general election in the UK has provided some people an opportunity to jump on the political bandwagon (or paddleboard) and highlight the failure of the regulation of water companies under the current system. There’s no doubt it needs changing.
Whilst the effect of climate change appears to have increased the amounts of torrential rainfall in the country – enabling water companies to legally discharge untreated sewage into rivers and the sea to mitigate against it backing up and flooding into homes – this has only served to emphasise the effects of their underinvestment.
Furthermore, the proliferation of chicken farms that have grown to feed the nation’s obsession with fast food and cheap meat, may have had a devastating effect on rivers such as the Wye running through England and Wales. Once a haven for wildlife, the River Wye now appears discoloured, which some believe to be a direct consequence of chicken manure running off the farms and into the river.
Consequently, Friends of the Earth has launched a national campaign calling on the new UK government to tighten environmental laws and hold water companies and factory farms to account for the pollution of our rivers and seas.
The website – https://friendsoftheearth.uk/nature/sick-sewage-and-pollution – has lots of useful information about how we can all act by saving water at home, spotting the signs of pollution, and learning which animals need our help.
With the recent change in government, there now exists an opportunity to press for a more climate and nature-friendly future. You can show your support for the call for a new Act of Parliament that enshrines our right to a healthy environment, by adding your name to the petition at: https://action.friendsoftheearth.uk/petition/add-your-name-secure-right-to-safe-waters
