Water and sewage
Our waterways provide vital habitats for wildlife and are an important source of green space for local communities - but they are in an awful state across the country. The Conservative government has failed to recognise how serious the situation is, and their plans to reduce waterway pollution fall well short of what’s required. At the Green Party, we know that a far more ambitious approach is needed to restore and protect our rivers, lakes and seas; we know that a service as vital as water belongs in public hands - run for the good of people and planet, not the profits of shareholders.
3 Green priorities
- Sort your sewage out: Halt dividend payments to water company shareholders until the companies stop dumping sewage in our waterways.
- Immediate action: Call on water companies to come before local councils to explain what action they are taking to end sewage discharge and clean up waterways.
- Water for people, not profits: Take water companies back into public hands so that water is managed for people, not profit.
Sewage, sewage everywhere…
- The health of rivers is measured according to two main categories: the extent of chemical pollution in the river and its overall ecological health. Figures from the Environment Agency in 2020 revealed that not one single river in England is in good chemical health, and only 14% are in good ecological health. The health of rivers in Wales appears slightly better, with 40% in good ecological health, but this is still not good enough. For stats on sewage pollution in your area, see this map from the Rivers Trust.
- The main sources of river pollution are agricultural practices and the water and sewerage industry. Nearly two thirds of rivers in England are affected by pollution from agricultural sources, including poor management of fertiliser and manure; while the water industry contributes to the poor standards of over half of England’s rivers - mainly by the discharge of treated and raw sewage effluent.
- In 2021, water companies discharged raw sewage into English rivers 372,533 times - for a combined total of more than 2.7 million hours.
- Water companies in England are currently under investigation by the regulator Ofwat and the Environment Agency (EA) after they admitted they may have illegally released untreated sewage into rivers and waterways. The EA reported in November that its initial findings indicate “widespread and serious non-compliance with the relevant regulations by all water and sewerage companies”.
- So what is the Conservative government doing about it? Not enough. Their “storm overflows discharge reduction plan” gives water companies a deadline of 2035 to reduce the amount of sewage flowing into bathing water and areas of ecological importance, and until 2050 to stop dumping sewage elsewhere. That would mean sewage being dumped into our waterways for decades to come.
- The plan requires water companies to invest £56bn to improve infrastructure over 25 years. However, it is not the international investment firms and private equity companies that own much of English water companies that will pay for this investment - instead, ordinary customers are to cover the costs through increases in their water bills.
- The government’s scheme is being challenged in the high court by campaigners who say the plan does not go anywhere near far enough to protect our natural environment.
Greens are serious about water
- We need politicians who are serious about protecting and restoring the country’s waterways and Greens are leading the way.
- In Lewes, a motion put forward by Green Party Food, Agriculture & Rural Welfare Spokesperson Cllr Emily O’Brien received unanimous cross-party support. It included ten resolutions relating to water and sewage, including asking the local water company to clarify the link between new developments and sewage discharge.
- The full motion can be found here. A briefing on sewage and water for councils, including a model of the Lewes motion, can be found here.
- Lewes District Council also recently became the first council to pass a ‘Rights of River’ motion, proposed by Green Councillor Matthew Bird, as a step towards creating a charter to protect the River Ouse.
Water for people, not profit
- This situation is largely the result of the privatisation of the water industry in 1989.
- In the thirty years since privatisation, water companies have amassed £54bn in debt, while paying dividends worth £65.9bn to shareholders. In 2021, water company executives received on average £100,000 in one-off payments on top of their salaries, during a period in which raw sewage was being pumped for 2.7m hours into England’s rivers and swimming spots.
- Customers are paying to service water companies’ debts, and the government is now asking them to foot the bill of improving the crucial infrastructure which has been neglected by water companies in favour of payments to shareholders.
- The Green Party knows that the only sustainable way to run vital services like water is to put people ahead of profit and we will continue to make the case for putting water back into public hands - for a better service, for cleaner water and for proper accountability.
- As immediate measures to end the dumping of sewage into our waterways, the Green Party has two demands for water companies:
- a halt to all further dividend payments from water companies to shareholders until the companies end the dumping of sewage;
- for water companies to come before local councils to explain what action they are taking to end sewage discharges and clean up local waterways.