Turn the Tide on the River Thames

End the Pollution for Profit of Thames Water

Our Turn the Tide on the River Thames campaign was born out of the urgent need to address the sewage pollution devastating our most iconic river.

The Problem

Sewage pollution crisis: Untreated sewage from combined sewer overflows (CSOs) is discharged into the Thames, often exceeding permits, endangering wildlife, ecosystems, and public health. In 2024, Thames Water reported 23,061 discharges and 298,081 hours of discharge.

Failing infrastructure: Decades of prioritising shareholder profits over necessary infrastructure investments have left ageing systems unable to cope with modern demands. Misconnected sewage pipes continue to pollute the river, while the absence of essential upgrades like tertiary treatment allows harmful waste to persist, putting both the environment and public health at risk.

Lack of accountability: Water companies face minimal pressure to take meaningful action, with weak government policies failing to address the crisis effectively. This leaves local communities to bear the burden, often driving change without sufficient support from the authorities.

Thames Water Under Investigation: Thames Water is under investigation by Ofwat and the Environment Agency for illegal sewage discharges and failures in wastewater management. In August 2024, Ofwat proposed a £104 million fine against the company, but while this amount might seem significant, it barely makes a dent in the company’s vast finances or the scale of the issue.

The water industry prioritising profits over public welfare: In 2024, total net debt across the sector reached £70 billion, a huge increase from when it was debt-free after privatisation. Yet in 2023-24, water companies paid out over £1 billion in dividends to shareholders. Meanwhile, Thames Water’s CEO is paid up to £2.3 million annually, showing a stark contrast between high executive pay and the urgent need to invest in our ageing infrastructure.

Sewage outflow into the River Thames © Getty Images

A swan swims through pollution and plant debris on the River Thames © Getty Images

Communities along the Thames take legal action against Thames Water

Our Solutions

We’re confronting this crisis on three fronts:

Empowering communities to take action.
Mobilising public opinion with hard-hitting news stories.
Driving change by holding Thames Water accountable.
Advocating for policy reform at every level of government.

Demand Thames Water be placed under special administration as a mechanism to set a new direction towards a public benefit structured company ensuring it prioritises the environment, infrastructure improvements, and full transparency.

Demand that Thames Water prioritise investment in upgrading outdated infrastructure, improving sewage treatment, and reducing leaks to safeguard our water and ecosystems.

In the run-up to the Boat Race 2025, we’ve been testing water quality along the race course using a citizen science approach. Our methodology and sampling protocol have been approved by Dr Andrew Singer, Principal Scientist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH). Our data is validated by Fluidion, a leader in real-time water quality monitoring, and only the validated data has been included in our analysis.

What we have done

River Action found alarmingly high levels of E.coli along the stretch of the River Thames used for the Boat Race between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. (2024)

Ahead of the 2024 and 2025 Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race, we tested for E. coli using WHO-certified kits, revealing shocking contamination levels. Our 2025 testing revealed that with over 29.5% of samples exceeding safe limits for entering the water in 2025. We also exposed Thames Water’s attempt to manipulate the testing data ahead of the race.

Ahead of the School’s Head of the River Race, Sir Steve Redgrave and a group of young rowers joined us in delivering a letter to Secretary of State for the Environment Steve Reed, that demanded urgent government action to clean up the River Thames.

To strengthen local communities and enable ongoing river health testing and advocacy across the River Thames catchment, we’ve helped set up and fund Friends of the Thames (FoTT). A new not-for-profit organisation dedicated to uniting communities along the Thames.

We’ve partnered with communities across the Thames catchment—Oxford, Henley, Fulham—empowering local citizen scientists to test water quality and gather crucial pollution data, sparking action and raising awareness.

We’ve created a key partnership with British Rowing, helped launch their Environmental Sustainability Strategy and equipped the GB rowing team with phosphate and nitrate testing kits.

In 2024, we tested water quality along the Henley Royal Regatta course, uncovering alarming results that led to media attention, ongoing talks with Thames Water, and continued pressure for system upgrades.

We held hustings in Oxford, Reading, and Henley, making river health a political priority. Our efforts led Oxford City Council to adopt River Action’s Local Authority Charter ahead of the 2024 election where river health was a key election issue.

We’ve met with Thames Water three times to push for urgent improvements. While promises have been made, we’re still waiting for real action and will keep the pressure on.

What We Are Doing

As part of our River Thames Campaign, we’ve launched Make a Nuisance — a bold, community-led effort to get Thames Water issued with abatement (cease and desist) notices for its ongoing pollution of the river.

We’ve mobilised residents all along the Thames to submit formal nuisance complaints to their local authorities, triggering the first step in the abatement process. A total of 13 Local Authorities have received nuisance complaints. A nuisance complaint for sewage pollution has only ever been made once before – on Lake Windemere. The Make a Nuisance campaign is therefore the largest community-driven abatement action ever attempted against a UK water company.

Combined with our new, hard-hitting research exposing the scale of sewage pollution, this mass action gives us a real chance of pushing authorities to act and force Thames Water to finally invest in its failing infrastructure and stop polluting the river.

We are now awaiting to hear if the Local Authorities will investigate the 13 complaints that have been made.

We have filed a legal claim over Environment Secretary Steve Reed’s failure to explain when he will trigger special administration for Thames Water. Thames Water has breached its duties and violated its licence conditions, seriously and repeatedly. This cannot continue!

We continue to closely support Friends of the Thames and help empower communities along the river by providing testing kits and training, helping them monitor water quality and protect local rivers.

We’re working closely with local authorities, mayors, and national governments to push for stronger regulations and more investment in river protection, creating lasting change for our waterways.

We’re expanding our partnership with British Rowing to ensure rowing clubs nationwide are testing their rivers. We’ll continue working with communities to test water quality ahead of key events like the Boat Race, creating headline-grabbing stories that continue to shine a spotlight on the sewage scandal.

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