Southern Water Fined

[Joe Winstanley]

I defy anyone to read this without it making your blood boil, it's nothing other than scandalous. I'm not a great believer in nationalisation but if this doesn't make the case for the re-nationalisation of 'our' water utilities than I simply don't what does.

Just think how many improvements to the rivers of the Southern Water region that could have been made with the £834m profit they have made since 2010. But despite making such profits they haven't been investing in sufficient equipment and infrastructure, as well as deliberately manipulating the waste water sampling procedures.

I also have to ask myself, why should the money levied in the fine by given back to the ratepayers? Surely it should be spent on river restoration projects? If the rate-payer gets given a cash rebate every time a water company gets caught out for causing pollution, then where is the incentive to make changes? Sadly there will be some that will see their rebate as a real result.

Southern Water punished over 'shocking' wastewater spills

Customers will get rebates of at least £61 each after the company failed in its sewage operation.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Barry Garwood]

The water companies in this country are the biggest polluters of waterways in the country, all in the name of profit!

 

[Jason Bean]

it is unbelievable but not surprising...which is really sad that we are letting are country be run like this.

 

[Graham Elliott]

The mainly French Water company in the Chilterns is draining the river Chess dry.

Bottling water and selling back to France.

A beautiful chalk stream, one of only two (I think) in theUK that rainbow trout breed.

When a youngster it was a beautiful flowing stream with weed riffles.
Now almost stagnant in places.

Makes my heart bleed.

 

[Paul Collins]

Fished the Chess since the 60s, and have caught a few of the rare wild Rainbows. After Chesham sewage works were upgraded early 90s? the EA forgot about it for about 10 years and it became a shining example of a natural chalk stream with a very healthy wild brown Trout population and Mayfly hatches to dream of.
Best day I remember I stopped counting at 30 fish, all returned, average about 1 1/4 lb, best one about 3 1/2 lb.
One day the EA came down and completely destroyed it by doing a 100% weed cut. Reduced it to ankle deep from knee deep.
Fish kill not long after.
Bank breach, abstraction etc.
It's now f****d.

 

[Stuart Brookes]

A toothless fine against a breach of trust more than anything else. Too many of our utilities companies are owned by foreign owners, which would not be permitted in other European countries, who are only interested in maximising profit. The fines are not sufficient to stop them from carrying out unethical and illegal behaviour such as this and until senior management are threatened with jail for such breaches the nothing will change.

 

[Damian Kimmins]

I largely work in the water treatment industry and whilst companies can act with wilful negligence sometimes, they are under huge pressure to cope with the increasing population. Capitalism demands that shareholders earn money on their investments.
I really don't think we are having the right debates with regard to the environment - it's all about economic growth and little else and I think until we start having those debates nothing will change.

 

[Stephen Crowhurst]

Too many people, using resources that haven’t seen investment for decades in an inefficient system. The amount of water wasted to leaks before it even arrives at the user is crazy, how much of our sewerage network is based on a Victorian network where the population was far less.

 

[Nick Coulthurst]

Privatising natural monopolies makes no economic sense and benefits only the rich. We’ve seen it time and time again in the UK - national assets sold off cheap to private companies who then seek to maximise profits by abusing their their monopolistic position. Look at the water industry : no reservoirs built in over 30 years despite a population increase of nearly 20 million, leaks everywhere, river pollution virtually accepted as normal procedure, and chalk streams abstracted near source because the water is purer and therefore cheaper to process. In the UK, the return on capital has outstripped wage inflation for decades, it’s all about the rich getting richer. We’re the 6th largest economy in the world and yet all we seem to care about is economic growth. Until we stop talking about economic growth and start focussing on income redistribution, things will only get worse. Without population control, any changes we make, including significantly reducing CO2 emissions, will be in vain. We are hell bent on destroying the planet and ourselves at the same time I’m afraid. Enjoy yourselves, it’s later than you think