At least 15,000 people from across the UK joined campaigners led by Chris Packham in the March for Clean Water which took place in London yesterday.

Coordinated by River Action and supported by over 130 organisations—including the National Trust, RSPB, GMB Trade Union and Surfers Against Sewage, collectively representing more than 10 million supporters—the protesters are urging Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to take immediate action to end pollution in Britain’s rivers, lakes, and seas, or risk the consequences of unmet promises.

Charles Watson, Chair of River Action, the organiser of the March for Clean Water, commented:

“This movement is unlike anything we’ve seen before. Families, communities, and organisations from across the UK have risen in outrage at the state of our rivers, lakes and seas. The Government’s first 100 days in power are up. The time for excuses is over. We’re here to hold the Government accountable to the election promises previously made and make sure they deliver on them to clean up our long-suffering waters once and for all.”

Nationwide demand for clean water

Marchers—including naturalist Chris Packham, broadcaster and activist Carol Vorderman, actor and musician Johnny Flynn (Ripley on Netflix), actor Jim Murray (The Crown), Olympic champion rower Imogen Grant, bestselling author Robert Macfarlane, and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall—joined leading environmental, nature, fishing, water sports, and community organisations from across the nation to call on the government to put an end to the pollution caused by multiple sources, including water companies and intensive agriculture. The protestors are asking the new government to:

• stop pollution for profit
• reform environmental regulators 
• enforce the laws that exist to deter and punish illegal pollution.

The campaigners are describing the current regulatory system of environmental regulation as having failed and must be reformed to ensure it is effective, accountable, and transparent, saying:

“Regulators must have the funding, power and independence to hold all polluters to account, free from any pressure or influence that might compromise their duty to protect our environment.”

Campaigners remain deeply concerned that despite multiple commitments made during the recent General Election campaign to take resolute action to address the issue, they do not go nearly far enough to address the root causes of water pollution.

“Measures in Government’s Water (Special Measures) Bill do not address the chronic failure of regulation in recent years”

River Action UK commented:

“Most significantly, the measures that have been published in the Government’s planned Water (Special Measures) Bill do not address the chronic failure of regulation in recent years, whereby environmental laws and regulations have failed to be enforced by environmental protection agencies, allowing polluters to regularly break the law and poison our water bodies with impunity.

“Meanwhile, while last week’s announcement by the Government of an independent Water Commission is a welcome step, it must ensure that the needs of the environment are fully considered and not sidelined by an apparent prioritisation of promoting economic growth. It must also address other major sources of pollution such as agriculture, which so far are conspicuous by their absence in the Commission’s terms of reference.”

Water UK - “in England and Wales Ofwat has consistently prevented much needed investment”

A separate statement issued on Saturday in advance of the march by David Henderson, CEO of Water UK, the organisation which represents all the UK water companies, said:

“Nobody wants sewage in our rivers and seas. It’s disgusting and a threat to wildlife and humans. We have all seen images of sewage in what should be pristine streams and rivers.

“Many think this issue is unique to the UK. Sadly, it’s a feature of sewers across much of the world. Germany, for example, has nearly five times as many sewers that overflow into rivers as England. As our triathletes experienced in Paris during the Olympic Games, old sewers across the world mix wastewater and rainwater and they cannot cope when there is a very heavy downpour.

“To stop it entirely, would mean ripping up the centre of every city to segregate the pipe network. It would take decades and the social and economic cost would be incalculable. Instead, we need to stop as much rain entering the system in the first place by building massive tanks to store the rain and stop it overwhelming sewers.

“People are right to ask why we didn’t do this years ago. Water companies, regulators and successive governments all failed to see the problem and failed to act. Some thought the money could be better spent elsewhere. Others took a short-term view and thought it better to put the investment off and keep the immediate costs down. Both approaches were wrong.

“Contrary to popular belief water companies cannot invest as much as they like. As natural monopolies, water companies need a regulator who can ensure investment only happens when it’s needed. Unfortunately, in England and Wales, the regulator Ofwat has consistently prevented much needed investment.

“Bills have fallen as a result. Raising bills is never welcome, but they would be 25% higher if they had merely followed inflation since 2010. By suppressing bills, our environment and, increasingly, our economy has paid a large price.

“Because we haven’t been allowed to build a new reservoir in more than 30 years, we now don’t have enough. In parts of Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire and Essex, new homes are being blocked and businesses can’t expand due to a lack of water. In Cambridge, even a new cancer hospital was delayed because of a lack of water.

“We all agree that we urgently need more investment. The only real questions are exactly how much and who should pay for it.

“Having consulted independent engineering and environmental experts, we think we need to invest £108 billion over the next five years. Ofwat, the regulator, has proposed cutting that by £20 billion. The days of presuming that ever more can be done with ever less must come to an end. Our environment and our economy can’t afford it.

“Many argue that water bills shouldn’t rise to pay for investment. It’s often argued that shareholders should repay their dividends and CEOs their bonuses instead. Even if that were possible, the money wouldn’t even cover three-quarters of investment costs for the next five years.

“We have seen from the Budget that the country doesn’t have much money. So, we need investors to pay for the huge projects needed.

“As well as investment – we need urgent reform, and the march is right to call for it. The system is not working. It is too complicated, too slow and is not delivering for people or the environment. We welcome the Government’s review, and I hope the result will be a new process that will fast-track investment.

“Reform will take time, but Ofwat is preparing to make its final decision on investment over the next five years. It is a critically important that they don’t short-change our country again….

“Water companies have a plan to deliver. All we need is permission from Ofwat to get on with it.”