'A fresh water EMERGENCY' Activists stage paddle-out against Thames Water

Two activist groups, one concerned with rivers and the other with the sea, met yesterday on the banks of the Thames to stage a peculiar protest.

River Action and Surfers Against Sewage got together on Monday June 24 and paddled out to Thames Water HQ in kayaks, on paddle boards, or surf boards to raise awareness for poor water quality in the area.

This follows as localised water quality testing by citizen scientists in the area revealed E.coli to be present in the water, which is very dangerous to human health.

Chief executive of River Action James Wallace said that as a Thames Water customer, he is very concerned.

"We want to make some noise that the government will hopefully hear," he said. "We are facing a catastrophe immerging with our rivers. We are in a fresh water emergency.

"The E.coli present in the water is most likely coming from sewage to do with Thames Water. We're inviting members of the public to join us and have a paddle out so we can be heard."

Mr Wallace said that he hopes the new government that will be elected on July 4 will prioritise rivers and water quality given the dire situation.

The two groups want some very specific things. Mr Wallace explained that they want Thames Water to be put into special administration so they start putting 'people and the planet before profit.'

He also outlined how they want the new government to reform the environmental agency and look into the detail of what has gone wrong and how have they allowed this to happen.

"What we hope is that this protest and the hustings that we are going to have this evening is that the public will vote for clean rivers," Mr Wallace concluded.

Director of campaigns at Surfers Against Sewage Dani Jordan said that the group have been touring the country for two weeks on a double decker tour bus.

Mrs Jordan explained that she would love there to be more clarity with where in the UK it is safe to wild swim as she is a wild swimmer herself.

"What we do need is better data around sewage. We do now have sewage pollution data, but it doesn't really tell us much," she said.

"We know that a sewage overflow has gone off, but we do not know how much that is affecting the water. We need more clarity on this."