Clean Water Watch
A regular column to update readers on the damaging effects of the current management of water in Hastings, surrounding areas (and nationally) and what people are doing about it. If you have any information, please contact [email protected] marked Clean Water Watch.
We’re already in mid-February 2024, heading for Spring, so what progress has the new year brought so far for cleaner water in the UK. Perhaps the most significant thing is the way protest is turning into action, facilitated by the way so many protest groups are beginning to join forces.
ACTION FROM CWAG
The Clean Water Action Crowdfunder launched in November last year has reached £6,895 as of 6 Feb – and is still open for donations (keep it up!). When it reached its target of £5,000 it also received match funding from East Sussex County Council (ESCC). That funding is already being put to good use with a team of seven volunteers and more than 100 samples taken: sampling from Bulverhythe/West Marina beach and Pelham Beach (Denmark Place/St Helens Down outfall). They will also continue to carry out ad-hoc testing when there are unexpected outflow releases. The data is recorded, and any alarming results are shared with the EA.
Not only are CWAG working with other groups of water testers/anti-pollution campaigners across the Southern Water supply area, including SOS Whitstable, Swim the Wight, Eastbourne Sea Swimmers and Hayling Island Sewage Watch, but they have also linked up with the Open Quality Lead at Southern Water, who has provided some equipment and training – and maybe SW will even fund future testing.
Action is also being taken to gain bathing water status for West Marina Beach for the 2025 bathing season. This is the kind of development which aims to change protest into concrete action: instead of asking the EA to test the water (without success), this would create a statutory duty for them to do so.
ACTION FURTHER AFIELD
Following the success of Mr Bates with the Post Office, step up Ms Bateman, from Exmouth. She says on Instagram that she’s taking South West Water to court over sea sewage discharges that she claims have harmed her health and prevented her from taking daily swims. Jo Bateman swims in the sea every day, not only because she loves it but because she feels it’s good for her mental and physical health – like many others. “They have taken away the amenity of the sea by dumping sewage in it,” she says.
“I’ve had enough,” Jo says. She was already refusing to pay the part of her water bill that covered sewage disposal, but explains: “All I get from that is the threats of debt recovery bailiffs, and I finally decided I needed to take action… If I win, it will set an amazing precedent.”
SHINING A LIGHT
The constant pressure on Water Companies has scored some interesting results, the latest being documents obtained by the Guardian newspaper under freedom of information laws about discussions between three water companies (including Southern Water and South West Water) to discuss “how to handle communications around sewage spills and bill rises”.
There have been ongoing suspicions of regulatory capture, and this appears to confirm at least aspects of that. And typically, these discussions have been held in the rarefied atmosphere of the palatial private dining room in the Royal Automobile Club’s “magnificent clubhouse” in London, where members are promised an “unforgettable experience”. As Sun Tzu says (and Rage Against the Machine sings) “Know your enemy”. For those that feel we should not talk of “enemies” in such situations, this has been summarised as: “To win an argument is not only about finding strength and coherence in your opinions. Try to understand the opposite’s perspectives.”
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