Thames Water customers and environment have ‘suffered’ - the next CEO ‘must clean up their act’, say activists

Thames Water customers have “suffered” and its next CEO must “clean up their act”, sewage campaigners warn.

Josh Harris, Head of Communications at environmental group Surfers Against Sewage, said the announcement of the resignation of Thames Water’s CEO, Sarah Bentley, now “leaves the door open for a new direction for the company, one where pollution for profit is an ugly but distant memory, and we strongly urge them to take it.”

He added that the customers of Thames Waters have “suffered through years of mismanagement of their sewerage network while shareholders and executives were busy filling their pockets” and “all eyes” are now on the firm to put it right.

Ms Bentley has stepped down with immediate effect after announcing last month that she would forgo her bonuses in the wake of mounting public outrage over the amount of sewage spills in UK rivers.

In May she promised she would give up her bonus for the 2022-23 financial year but still managed to double her pay, raking in £1.5 million.

Following her resignation, the UK government is now reportedly drawing up emergency contingency plans to temporarily bring Thames Water back into public hands and save it from “collapse” as its debt pile reaches a mammoth £14 billion.

Last year Thames Water’s owners invested £500 million in the firm but warned that “further shareholder support may be required”, and ministers are said to be in talks about the possibility of emergency nationalisation of the water company under a so-called special administration regime (SAR).

Mark Barrow, an underwater filmmaker at Beneath British Waters who films the scale of sewage pollution in UK rivers, told NationalWorld: “The house of cards is looking very unstable and it will collapse alongside our freshwater ecosystem. The whole thing stinks but why was this allowed to happen at the cost of the environment.

“It would seem that in these times it is impossible to just do what is right.”

He added that Thames Water “the company now facing insolvency” had billions stripped out in dividends by investors in recent years, 25% of water lost each year in leaks, and 68,000 hrs of raw sewage discharged last year into Thames.

He said: “We are about to be taught a valuable lesson with rivers because of over inflated salaries and corporate greed. There is no price tag on nature.”

Karen Shackleton, founding member of Ilkley Clean River Group and Vice President of Wharfedale Naturalists Society, said Ms Bentley has pocketed a lot of money while households across the country have struggled.

She told NationalWorld: “She’s pocketed a lot of money whether it be bonuses or inflated pay packets, while struggling households are paying for their water to be treated which is then simply fly tipped into the environment whenever there’s the sniff of a raindrop. Even the ‘treated’ sewage is full of e coli, phosphates and nitrates.

“The public are fed up with these profiteering companies ripping us off.”

She added that it will be interesting to see what her next position will be.

The news of Ms Bentley’s resignation and the following risk of the collapse of Thames Water comes after reports that the public’s water bills will increase to foot sewer upgrades.

Millions of households could see their yearly water bills rise by up to 40% as water companies draw up plans to tackle the cost of meeting strict targets to tackle the sewage crisis. It could result in water bills increasing by about £450 to £680, plus inflation, in parts of the country.

The move has alarmed chancellor Jeremy Hunt who is set to raise the matter at a meeting on Wednesday (28 June) with the water regulator Ofwat.

Southern Water has already been slammed as a “disgrace” after documents from a focus group revealed the firm is proposing to charge customers 73% more by 2030 - a total of £759 a year. Under the plans, which account for inflation, each household would have to pay an extra £279 a year on their bills by the next decade.

Public consultation documents seen by The Times show that South East Water is planning to increase its bills by as much as 39% by 2030, Thames Water is proposing rises of 20% while Wessex Water wants to increase water bill by 30%.