Britain’s rivers are trapped in a cycle of pollution, broken promises and disappointment – who will finally stand up for our waterways?

By Erica Popplewell, Head of Engagement at River Action

A familiar problem

The sewage scandal has become so familiar that many of us risk accepting it as just another unpleasant fact of modern Britain.

Every time heavy rain falls, we expect to hear about rivers contaminated with sewage, swimmers warned to stay out of the water and water companies promising that improvements are on the way.

But we should never become numb to it.

First reported by LBC, independent testing on the River Thames last week recorded one of the highest E. coli readings ever documented by citizen scientists. Water sampled by Fulham Reach Boat Club contained 58,000 E. coli bacteria per 100 millilitres, 58 times higher than the Government’s threshold for “poor” bathing water quality.

At those levels, the Government’s advice is simple: don’t swim. And River Action’s advice would be don’t even touch it. Just a few drops of water with that level of bacterial pollution could hospitalise someone if it was ingested or infected an open wound.

What makes this particularly alarming is where it happened.

London has just spent £4.6 billion building the Tideway Tunnel, the so-called “super sewer” that was supposed to dramatically reduce sewage pollution entering the Thames. Yet after a relatively short period of heavy rainfall, sewage was still discharged into the river and bacteria levels rocketed. What’s Thames Water’s excuse? They closed the tunnel for maintenance, despite the weather warnings.

For the thousands of people who row, paddle, sail, fish or simply enjoy the Thames, this isn’t an abstract environmental problem. It is a public health issue.

If that weren’t concerning enough, another uncomfortable truth has emerged.

Six months. No investigations.

Six months ago, residents across the Thames catchment decided to use a law that has existed for decades. Under the Environmental Protection Act, local councils have a duty to investigate complaints where pollution may amount to a statutory nuisance, something that interferes with people’s health or their ability to use and enjoy their local area.

The complaints were not speculative. They were backed by evidence, including detailed analysis of sewage discharge data, and supported by people who know these rivers better than most, including Olympic rowing champions Sir Steve Redgrave and Imogen Grant MBE.

Yet six months later, not one of the thirteen councils involved has opened a formal investigation.

Not one.

A postcode lottery for justice

Some councils have refused outright. Others have suggested the Environment Agency should deal with it. A handful say they are still considering whether to investigate.

The result is a baffling postcode lottery. Depending on where you live, your council either believes it has a responsibility to investigate or believes it does not.

That cannot be how environmental law is supposed to work.

Nobody is asking councils to prejudge the outcome or automatically find against Thames Water. They are simply being asked to do what we think the law requires: open investigations into credible complaints – in line with the law – and decide whether a statutory nuisance exists.

That matters because local authorities possess powers that could make a real difference. If they conclude a statutory nuisance exists, they can serve legal notices requiring it to stop. And with the shocking evidence produced by Fulham Reach Boat Club and other citizen scientists, the threat to human health and wildlife warrants urgent action.

This points to a much bigger failure in how England protects its rivers. Water companies blame exceptional weather. Regulators point to limited powers and resources. Councils point to regulators. Everyone has an explanation, but nobody seems willing to take responsibility.

Meanwhile, the public is told to avoid the water.

River Action believes this failure to act reflects a water utility system that is no longer accountable to the public it is meant to serve.

We are calling on the Government to place Thames Water into a Special Administration Regime, arguing that the debt-laden serial polluter with its long record of environmental failures and pollution incidents should be stabilised in the public interest and used as the starting point for wider reform of how water services are owned, managed and governed.

The alternative is likely yet another round of distressed asset investors fighting over the scraps of this failed company that has already failed customers and the environment. The latest London & Valley Water restructuring proposal will reportedly cost £749million in fees alone and potentially handover ownership of our capital’s water supply to US investors, including a megadonor to Trump’s campaigns.

Until water companies are run in the public interest and for environmental benefit, rather than primarily for shareholders and investors, customers and our rivers will continue to pay the price.

Britain’s rivers should not be places where parents worry about children catching infections after paddling, or rowers wondering whether a training session will leave them ill.

Clean rivers and abundant wildlife are not a luxury. They are a basic public right, as essential as clean air or safe drinking water. And they should not be up for sale to billionaire hedge fund managers with no interest in water security or justice for the UK.

The time for excuses is over

The Thames is one of the world’s most famous rivers. It flows through our capital, supports wildlife, provides recreation and connects communities. If we cannot keep this river clean despite billions of pounds of promised investment, what does that say about the state of our water system?

The sewage crisis is often presented as a technical challenge requiring expensive engineering solutions. Those are important. But last week’s shocking bacteria readings and six months of official inaction suggest the real problem runs deeper.

It is an urgent crisis affecting 16 million people, thousands of businesses, and even the UK seat of power.

Until somebody is prepared to use the law, hold polluters to account and put public health and nature ahead of institutional buck-passing, Britain’s rivers will remain trapped in a cycle of pollution, broken promises and disappointment.

The question is no longer whether the Government should allow another ‘market-led’ private equity bailout and £billions in junk debt.

The real question is whether the Government is prepared to do the right thing, put Thames Water into administration and enable it to be restructured for the people not profiteers.

Learn more about our River Thames campaign here.