Several thousand people gathered on Sunday, November 3 in London at the call of NGOs to demand more action from public authorities against water pollution, a phenomenon which has taken on significant proportions in the United Kingdom. The participants in this “March for Clean Water” – around 15,000 according to the organizers – many of whom were dressed in blue, displayed banners reading “we are drowning in shit” and called on the government to “stop poisoning Britain’s rivers”.
Britain's water sector, privatized in 1989, is in crisis due to underinvestment in a sewage system that dates largely from the Victorian era. Its companies are widely criticized for their discharge of wastewater into nature, which results in pollution of the coastline and waterways.
Bill to toughen sanctions
The authorities have been under pressure for several years to remedy this and companies have already been fined. The Labor government introduced a bill in September to toughen sanctions against water company executives.
Sunday's demonstrators are demanding in particular a reform of the sector regulator, Ofwat, which “totally failed in its mission to hold water companies accountable”declared Sunday the British naturalist and presenter Chris Packham, present in the procession, gathered at the call of organizations like River Action or Greenpeace. “Caring for our environment is an investment in our common future”he said on Times Radio.
The trade body for water companies, Water UK, responded in a statement, acknowledging that the current system “doesn’t work”, and also accusing the regulator.
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