Activists say act now to stop Thames Water’s ’15 more years of pollution’ plan

The nationalisation pressure group We Own It has launched a petition to stop “15 more years of pollution” for Thames Water customers:

Unbelievable – Thames Water wants to pollute ILLEGALLY for the next 15 years

If they get away with this, other water companies will copy

If you don’t want sewage until 2040 (!) please sign our petition to @Ofwat, we’ll be handing it in on 21st October

👉https://t.co/aQiBKCnJWx pic.twitter.com/kCYnrFHbn5

— Cat Hobbs (@CatHobbs) October 11, 2025

“Ofwat MUST say no” to Thames Water

The petition states over Thames Water:

Thames Water’s creditors are desperately scrabbling to keep hold of the company. They’ve put forward a deal asking to set their own rules for pollution.

Ofwat can choose to protect billpayers and the environment by taking Thames Water into special administration. That way, around half of its debt could be wiped out.

In public ownership, households and anti sewage groups could have a say on the board of Thames Water and every penny of bills could be reinvested to stop sewage and tackle leaks.

Ofwat must not set a dangerous precedent for all privatised English water companies by signing off on 15 more years of pollution.

Ofwat is making its decision on the 22nd October, when we’ll be handing this petition in at their headquarters. Make sure your name is on it by Tuesday 21st October.

You can sign the petition here.

We Own It support the total re-nationalisation of UK utilities, describing privatised water as follows:

Privatisation is a legalised scam. Since the 1990s, investment from the privatised English water companies has gone down 15%, and they’ve built up a debt mountain of over £60 billion (paid for by us). Meanwhile, shareholders have extracted more than £85 billion over the last 35 years.

Research shows the cost of bringing water into public ownership could be very low and even zero in some scenarios. In fact, public ownership could save us £3-5 billion a year.

The privatised English water companies pour raw sewage into our rivers and seas, which kills fish and wildlife and makes people ill. A huge amount of water is leaked away every day – nearly a fifth of all water in the network never makes it to our taps. Instead of spending money on infrastructure to tackle sewage and leaks, the water companies prioritise their shareholders.

Featured image via pexels