Thames Water's 'dirtied profits' slammed as sewage discharge is exposed

has dumped sewage into the London river for over 7,000 hours since January, an analysis has revealed.

Some of these discharges into the Thames are alleged to have been unlawful, River Action claimed.

The organisation, who used a sewage map to calculate the dumps up to 15 October, said the 7,002 hours of discharges equalled to 291 days.

Amy Fairman, head of campaigns at River Action, said: "Water companies like Thames Water are up to their necks in it, treating our rivers, seas and lakes like open sewers.

"Meanwhile they squander bill payers cash with impunity, splashing it on shareholder dividends, bonuses for their bosses and paying huge levels of interest on their junk-rated debt."

River Action created a billboard made from fake £50 notes which have been stained brown with sterilised manure and water from polluted waterways.

The campaigners said this symbolises the "dirtied profits" that water companies continue to make at the expense of the environment.

Dividend payouts to shareholders has totalled £72.9 billion over the last 33 years, figures have shown.

But in 2023, there were a total of 464,056 sewage discharges into English rivers, waterways, and seas - averaging 1,271 sewage spills a day.

Ms Fairman said: "Our 'Pooster' drives home the point: the financial gains they make are filthy money. It's time for change. The UK public is fed up with sewage-drenched waterways and our campaign demands urgent reform."

The billboard includes a caption stating that "this money is stained with crap, just like water company profits".

This visual protest is part of River Action's wider campaign which includes a March for Clean Water in central London on November 3.

Clean water campaigner Laura Reineke, from the Henley Mermaids swimming group, said: "Our beautiful river Thames is being used as an open sewer, the epically mismanaged monopoly that is Thames Water is in charge of our precious blue space.

"This has to change! We are fed up with swimming in poo. Freshwater species are declining at a rate of five times that of species that live on land, our biodiversity needs rescuing. Our river is visibly poorly, choking in chemical's and suffocating in poo. This assault on our wildlife and our health has to stop, water should be run for the benefit of humans and the wildlife that calls it home."

A Thames Water spokesman said: "While all storm discharges are unacceptable, the sewage system was historically designed to work in this way, to prevent sewage backing up into people's homes.

"As infrastructure ages and demand on it increases, more investment is needed across the entire sector. That's why we've asked for increased investment in the next regulatory cycle between 2025-2030.

"We've put transparency at the heart of what we do, and we were the first water company to publish a real time data map on our website, which in its first year has been viewed over 350,000 times."