ACTIVISTS staged a protest against sewage outletting at the Thames Water Headquarters in Reading on Monday, March 13.
Campaigners poured fake sewage onto the front steps of the building while wearing hazmat suits and respirators.
They delivered a letter to the water company demanding that they stop the disputed practise of letting untreated sewage into waterways.
Extinction Rebellion is also demanding that the company ceases the payment of bonuses and “excessive” wages until problems with waterways are fixed.
The protest comes just a week after Thames Water laid out its plans to spend £1.6 billion on reducing sewage discharges into rivers.
The water firm announced upgrades to some of its sewage treatment works and sewer networks over the next two years, to cut down on storm discharges and pollution incidents.
It is the second protest against Thames Water in as many months, after blue plaques were placed around sites in Reading in February.
Extinction Rebellion cited Environment Agency figures that show that water companies let raw sewage flow into seas and rivers for more than nine million hours in the five years up to 2021, which constitutes a 2,335% increase.
The EA has further named Thames Water as one of the worst performers on its sewage discharge and pollution record, alongside Anglian, Wessex, and Yorkshire Water, which was also in need of “improvement.”
A joint statement from Ofwat and the Environment Agency has said that: “The principal public health responsibility for ensuring human faeces and viable human faecal bacteria do not get into waterways people might use recreationally, rest squarely with the water companies and their directors.”
Speaking on sewage outflow last week, Sarah Bentley, chief executive of Thames Water, said: “The discharge of untreated sewage is unacceptable, and we are committed to tackling this problem.
“We are investing record sums in upgrading our sewer systems and treatment works and are striving every day to reduce the discharge of untreated sewage into our rivers.
“There are no quick fixes. Population growth will increase the strain on our sewage network and treatment centres. And because of climate change, the south east of England is experiencing heavier downpours, which can overwhelm some sewage treatment works.
“The scale of the challenge demands urgent and systemic reform with a shared undertaking from all stakeholders.”
Thames Water’s current plans or announced projects would have no impact on Reading and Wokingham borough’s waterways.
A spokesperson for Thames Water said: “We regard all discharges of untreated sewage as unacceptable and will work with the government, Ofwat and the Environment Agency to accelerate work to stop them being necessary and are determined to be transparent.
“We are absolutely committed to protecting and enhancing our rivers and the communities who love them, and we want to make these discharges of diluted sewage unnecessary as quickly as possible.
“Of course, what matters most is stopping the need for the discharges. Our shareholders have not taken a dividend in over five years and last year approved a business plan that sees us spending an additional £2 billion beyond what our customers are funding so we can improve outcomes for customers, leakage and river health.
“This will allow us to deliver our commitment to a 50% reduction in the total annual duration of discharges across London and the Thames Valley by 2030, and within that an 80% reduction in sensitive catchments.
“We have started the £100 million upgrade of our Mogden sewage treatment works in London, and are currently increasing sewage treatment capacity at a number of our other sewage works across the Thames Valley, including Witney, Chesham and Fairford to be completed by 2025.
“We have a long way to go – and we certainly can’t do it on our own – but the ambition is clear.”
