Dirty Business: watch tonight on Channel 4

Thu 19 Mar, 14:04

I've just caught up on this essential viewing.  It's even worse than I had understood.   Why has it not caught the national outrage that the Post Office scandal caused?  I urge everyone to watch it - if you like crime stories and tragedies - this has it all.  A tear jerking crisis emergency.

Given the failure of private investment to manage sewerage disposal can someone please give me any reason to trust those same people with our fresh water supplies?  

With heartfelt thanks to WASP for the pain they have endured for so long.  I've signed the petitions, I'll send them regular funding, I'll vote for a political Party that promises to bankrupt the existing owners and re-nationalise it, I'll avoid all rivers and beaches in England & Wales, I'll boil and filter any water I plan to drink.  What else?  Meanwhile check out the map of the UK on the WASP website to see real time sewerage flowing. 

I note that the Government have pledged to stop 'self regulation' for these water funding companies.  But only last summer they proposed 'self regulation' for all imports of chemical products from overseas.  They talk about fining the companies.  But who pays the fines?  We do.  Sweet, happy water companies.

Sun 1 Mar, 13:58

Just read this!

 https://www.windrushwasp.org/single-post/new-vision-for-water-a-mirage-or-worse

Sat 28 Feb, 22:08 (last edited on Sat 28 Feb, 22:10)

And if you think public health should take priority over profit from pollution, and we should take back control of our water, I encourage you to sign this...

Sat 28 Feb, 21:13

Signed and shared.  Thank you, Anne.

Sat 28 Feb, 11:09

If you want to sign up to put some pressure on the government to stop the big bonuses being paid to water companies, then sign Marc Astley's petition here https://c.org/LDTzTgRsDq

Fri 27 Feb, 09:34

Thanks James! But I don’t want to hijack this thread: the key thing is the issue of river pollution.

Fri 27 Feb, 09:16

@Andrew, great book cover design!

Thu 26 Feb, 13:02 (last edited on Thu 26 Feb, 13:13)

Also worth supporting WASP directly: they pay for everything they do from their own pockets, and the guys involved are all retired: so do the maths! And if you want to know more, and to donate perhaps, here is the link to their website.

https://www.windrushwasp.org/donate

And for those who want more details, here is the link to Peter Hammond's latest report and map about the last 5 years of illegal discharges:

 https://www.peter-hammond.com/TWREPORT.pdf

https://www.peter-hammond.com/TWMAP.html

Thu 26 Feb, 10:44

Dirty Business is amazing---powerful and true and very watchable. Ash and Peter are real local heroes and deserve to be knighted. I nearly joined WASP c. 5 years ago when I first became concerned about the pollution issue. But I wasn't mobile enough to be helpful so  just had to write letters and urge people to be involved. One of the most important things one can do, regardless of your politics, is to make sure that the clean water issue is on the agenda of your particular party. I have seen it move from a side issue to one of the most important issues of my party in the last few years. There is no time to waste. 

Tue 24 Feb, 18:19

Relevant too is local (Eynsham) author C.M. Taylor's fictional exploration of these issues, featured in the Guardian a few days ago. The book is here (disclosure: I designed it).

Tue 24 Feb, 14:28

Thames Water does not 'serve' us, they serve the shareholders, eh...but if we are unhappy we can all do something.  The first thing is to watch this series. We are lucky to have WASP as our neighbours, and that they see with such clarity (which as you say Anne, is tricky in the murkiness).

Tue 24 Feb, 14:15

Compelling viewing for anyone who is served by Thames Water (which of course is all of us here in Charlbury and along the Evenlode valley), which may make it clearer why our bills are rising whilst our lovely River remains as murky as the organisations who are managing it.

Dramatisation (as if that were needed) of the Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP) campaign to get truth and honesty as well as effective pollution controls back into our water 'industry'. Started last night with 2 more episodes at 9pm tonight and tomorrow: catch up available for those who missed the first one.