News
March For Clean Water: Thousands Gather In Central London
To help raise awareness of water pollution in the UK and put additional pressure on the government to address this critical issue head on, a peaceful and inclusive rally took place earlier this month (November 3rd), organised by a coalition of water, environmental and wildlife groups.
The March for Clean Water was held to draw attention to the state of the nation’s waterways, with 1,271 sewage discharges taking place each day in England, fish deaths up by 176 per cent in 2023 and agricultural runoff causing untold damage… with 100 per cent of England’s rivers now polluted and ten per cent of freshwater species facing extinction as a result.
Organised by 140 concerned organisations, the rally brought everyone together to call on the government to end pollution by reforming regulation, with an immediate review of both Ofwat and the Environment Agency to stop any profit/greed-driven water pollution from taking place.
Furthermore, it is keen to see greater enforcement of the law, upholding the regulations that are already in place.
Peaceful protest
According to iNews, more than 15,000 people took to the London city streets as part of the March for Clean Water event to protest against sewage pollution – even as the new Labour government Budget revealed that the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) will face day to day spending cuts in real terms in 2025… which will likely have an impact on the reach of the Environment Agency, as well.
Charles Watson, chair of River Action UK (one of the main organisers of the November 3rd march), described this development as “deeply concerning”, saying: “Labour campaigned in the election with a firm commitment, in their words, to clean up our polluted waterways once and for all. They won seats on that.
“To stop the pollution, the only real solution is to strengthen regulation. So when we see the department that funds regulation effectively being cut back, we do wonder, are these promises going to be fulfilled?
“It is early days, because we know the headline budget for Defra was cut, but we don’t know if any of those cuts will be passed through to the Environment Agency. But if they were, that would make us very, very angry, because it would create a real sense of betrayal for people who voted on those election promises.”
As the news source explains, chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget did include an increase to Defra’s resource spending to £4.8 billion in 2024/2025, which represents a 1.9 per cent drop in real terms because of costs like inflation.
Despite the fact that the department’s capital budget will increase at the same time during this period, boosting the overall budget by 2.7 per cent in real terms, campaigners are worried that the reduction in its day to day spending will mean that the Environment Agency is less able to monitor pollution incidents and hold those responsible to account.
Harsher penalties are being introduced for water companies found to be breaking the law, however, as part of the new water (special measures bill), which will include prison sentences of up to two years for bosses failing to cooperate or who interfere with investigations.
Water suppliers will also have to publish real-time data from storm overflow monitors within an hour of each discharge, with the Environment Agency able to impose severe penalties more quickly without having to carry out lengthy investigations for pollution-related offences.
How can businesses help?
We all have our own individual responsibilities when it comes to protecting the nation’s rivers, lakes and streams. The level of pollution caused by your business operations will largely depend on the industry you’re in, but there’s always something that can be achieved.
There is specific government guidance in place for dealing with pollutants like oil, petrol, slurry, silage, solvents, pesticides and so on, and you may require an environmental permit or similar if you have to discharge substances into groundwater or surface water.
Other business practices can also cause contamination, however, and it’s essential that you implement measures to prevent this from leading to pollution. This can include activities like vehicle washing, yard cleaning, manufacturing processes, water cooling and cleaning of food production areas.
There are many ways in which you can prioritise water sustainability as a business, not just focusing on pollution. If you’d like to find out more about how to boost the blue credentials of your organisation, protecting the environment and saving yourself money at the same time, get in touch with the H2o Building Services team today.