28th April 2024
Sewage discharge into British rivers, an ongoing scandal
The scandal of water privatisation continues to outrage the public while having little impact on the policies of Britain’s major political parties. There is no doubt that water, along with the energy industries should be in public ownership, to ensure that they meet the needs of the people rather than the profits of shareholders, but neither the Tories nor the Labour leadership are committing to it.
The Tory position is no surprise. As the perpetrators of the deconstruction of the welfare state, comprehensive education, Council housing and much of the country’s manufacturing base, the Tories have demonstrated over many decades their commitment to the interests of the rich few rather than the working class.
Privatised in 1989 the water industries have borrowed £64 billion, paid out £78 billion to shareholders, failed to build the necessary infrastructure to meet the needs of a growing 21st century economy and been under the control of a wide range of foreign investors with no interest in the needs of the British people.
Current foreign owners of the various regional water companies in Britain, totalling 72% of the industry, include the Chinese government, investment authorities in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, the Hong Kong based Li Ka-shing and Malaysian, Francis Yeoh. The state of rivers in England and Northern Ireland is such that the most recent report by the Rivers Trust does not rate any of them as being of “good overall” status.
Yet water companies continue to assert that the ratio of sewage that they treat, compared to the untreated sewage that pours into rivers and the sea, is improving. In reality, this is not the case. The sleight of hand performed by water companies is called “flow trimming”. This is a practice whereby sewage is diverted into rivers upstream of water treatment works. So, less sewage is entering the works, resulting in companies claiming to treat a higher proportion of it.
While the patchwork of private investors walk off with fat dividends the price is being paid by the public, who not only suffer from the poor environmental consequences, but also foot the bill in higher costs. The recent high profile debacle of Thames Water is a case in point. Given the massive mismanagement and fleecing of Thames by the private sector there is even talk of temporary nationalisation by the Tories to bail the company out. Not only will this require the government to take on board the company’s £18 billion debt but Thames continue to plan for a payout to shareholders and raise customers bills by 40% in the coming year.
The estimated water loss in the area covered by Thames Water is 600 million litres per day, almost a quarter of all the water it supplies.
Public policy elsewhere in Europe demonstrates that the British model is by no means accepted as universal, even within other capitalist economies, and a more people oriented approach can prevail. In 2010, Paris re-municipalised its water service from the hands of private companies including Veolia and SUEZ to create the public company Eau de Paris. The performance of Eau de Paris has made a significant difference. The price of water has been cut by 8 per cent and a new citizens’ commission was formed to enhance transparency and democratic governance. The new public utility created an active policy of water affordability for poorer households, migrants, and homeless people and increased the number of public water fountains.
Water use in Ireland is free up to a certain quantity and funded through general taxation. When Ireland’s creditors pushed for an end to this policy amid the Eurozone crisis and the introduction of water charges in 2014, the move was met with strong resistance, including large demonstrations, a non-payment campaign, and civil disobedience in the active blocking of the installation of water meters. These tactics eventually led to the suspension of water charges in 2016.
The fact that most Italian water remains in public ownership is largely due to the 2011 referendum at which more than 55 per cent of voters opposed the attempts at water privatisation that were also part of the larger austerity agenda that followed the financial crisis.
The consequences of the failure to address water quality go far and wide. Apart from the increase in direct bills there is the increased risk of disease from polluted water ways, potentially putting more pressure upon the NHS to deal with water borne infections. The accumulation of sewage into the sea has an impact upon marine life, while land based flora and fauna are threatened by the pollution of rivers upstream, to “flow trim” the regulation of sewage treatment.
That all of this is easily preventable, with the element of private profit eliminated and public good as the priority, should be a gift to a campaigning Labour Party leadership as the General Election looms. However, the fear of being accused of being ’woke’ is immobilising the Starmer leadership on this issue, in the same way that it will not address the question of energy nationalisation, and has diluted its approach to investment in green technologies to develop a progressive twenty first century economy.
Ultimately the solution to the question of how water resources are allocated and used is a socialist one, where the economy is structured upon the needs of the people, not the profits of private investors and shareholders. However, Britain has been particularly badly served by successive governments adopting an essentially neo-liberal approach to resources which should be under public control.
Evidence from elsewhere in Europe demonstrates that mass public pressure can bring about change. As the Tories look towards meltdown in local elections this week, and Labour look set to win a General Election later in the year, it is time to seize the moment and compel the Labour leadership to take a clear stand on this, amongst many other questions, which impact directly upon the lives of working class voters.
*with credit to Nigerian musician and activist Fela Kuti for the title. Check out more here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xviLDFqMznQ
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