London protesters are demanding that water companies clean up rivers polluted by sewage

LONDON — Holding placards with slogans including “Stop the Litter” and “Species Not Faeces”, thousands of people marched in London on Sunday to demand Britain be cleaned up. waterways clogged with sewage.

Organizers estimated that 15,000 people marched along the Thames to Parliament, many dressed in blue and waving blue flags, forming a “human river”. Police did not provide an estimate of the crowd.

The March for Clean Water was organized by groups from Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth to British Rowing.

Water pollution has become an increasingly high-profile issue in Britain, drawing attention to climate change and the legacy of the privatization of British public services decades ago.

Private water and sewerage companies have been unable to upgrade their often Victorian infrastructure as the population has grown and demand has increased. Spills are common, and during heavy rainfall, companies dump untreated sewage into rivers, lakes and seas. Emissions rose by more than 50% last year to a record 464,000 spills, according to the Environment Agency.

Pollution from farm run-off is also spoiling Britain’s waterways, and climate change is making matters worse by bringing more intense rain.

Rower Imogen Grant, a gold medalist at the 2024 Olympic Games, said it is common for rowers to get sick after training on the Thames.

“I spend hours and hours on the water training every day in rowing boats during my classes and I see diapers floating, plastic bags, I see scale along the pontoons we train on… It’s just not good enough and something needs to change.” she said.

Water companies say the industry regulator won’t let them raise their water bills enough to fund the improvements.

The Labor government, elected in July, introduced legislation to increase regulation and impose tougher penalties on water companies responsible for pollution. But demonstrators said more needed to be done.

Nature TV’s Chris Peckham, who attended the march, said Britain’s rivers were “some of the worst in Europe”.

“But I’m hopeful, firstly, because we know what we need to do and we have the technology to fix it. What we need to do is convince our new government to act faster,” he said.