Water bills: Boycott growing in UK as more people refuse to pay sewage element of water rates over 'appalling pollution'

Across the UK people have stopped paying the sewage element of their water bills in protest against the amount of raw waste that is being poured into rivers and seas. One woman, Caz Dennett, from Weymouth in Dorset is refusing to pay sewerage charges from Wessex Water because of its “poor performance and appalling pollution record.”

The 52-year-old told NationalWorld that she lives in a seaside town but “found out that Wessex Water were discharging huge volumes of sewage into the seas, right where holidaymakers and locals enjoy the beach, and where precious sea-life can be found.” She explained that in April last year she had “just had enough” and decided not to pay the sewerage part of her water bill as companies "will start listening when we turn off the money tap”.

Ms Dennett wrote to Wessex Water to complain and explain why she was withholding payment. In the letter she wrote: “At this time I am unwilling to pay any contribution to the sewerage charges, because you have proven you are not competent to manage sewage safely. As a customer, I expect you to deliver the service I pay you to, not give my money straight to shareholders, so until you comply with environmental regulations, and cut the crap from our coasts and rivers I won’t pay.”

Since then Ms Dennett organised a local dirty water campaign inspired by Extinction Rebellion called the Don’t Pay For Dirty Water campaign. The campaign joins forces with Extinction Rebellion and the Water Bill Boycott to help other people safely withhold payment.

Ms Dennett believes the campaign will have an impact. She said: “They can’t cut your water off, you have the right to complain, and you can decide to pay at any time to avoid hassles, then start withholding again. Money is the only language these companies understand, they’ll start listening when we turn off the money tap”.

Elizabeth Gerrish, 69, from Portreath in Cornwall, and her husband, have also stopped paying the sewage element of their water rates. She told NationalWorld she swims in the sea all year round but “very sadly” since 1 November she has not been able to swim at her home beach in Portreath due to sewage. She said she is “furious” as she is “advised not to swim on my beach."

She added: “I cannot believe that here we are in 2024 and we are still fouling our beautiful water. It was easy for us not to pay the sewage element of our bill as we do not pay by direct debit.  

“We called South West Water and informed them of our plans then when we got the bill we just withheld the sewage element. As of yet we have had no repercussions.”

Nuala Johnson who also lives near Portreath told NationalWorld that she will be refusing the sewage element of her bill. She said: “I live four miles from Portreath beach and it is beautiful but I cannot swim there because of sewage being pumped into the sea. It is very sad to look out and see the beauty of the coastline and know the turmoil below the surface.”

In a report by Surfers Against Sewage, released last year, the campaign group found that raw sewage was discharged into UK rivers and seas almost 400,000 times in 2022. During the 2022-23 bathing season, England reported 301,091 sewage discharges, Scotland 14,008, Wales 84,720. The report added that over the last year there has also been 1,924 sickness reported to the group which they estimated has caused five years worth of sick days due to sewage pollution.

CCW, the voice for water consumers said it "completely understands customers’ anger and frustration on this issue" but its "advice to people who approach us with a complaint regarding this matter is to continue paying their charges" as customers could "who are considering boycotting payment should understand they could face debt recovery action from their water company." It adds: "This could negatively impact their credit rating and also potentially result in additional costs being added to their bill.

"There is no requirement for a water company to suspend or delay debt recovery action just because a customer has raised a dispute with them or CCW. Ofwat’s Paying Fair guidance only applies where a water company is investigating the accuracy of a customer’s bill or whether it has been paid. This is not relevant here as customers are choosing to boycott bill payment."