A national disgrace': Readers fume over the UK's sewage crisis

"Many readers highlighted the long-standing problem of untreated sewage being pumped into rivers and coastal waters, describing the environmental and public health risks including incidents of e-coli infection and drawing attention to the failures of the Environment Agency and other regulators."

"Several commenters connected the crisis to broader political and economic factors, citing privatisation, deregulation, neoliberal policies and years of austerity as enabling executives to extract huge profits while ecosystems suffered."

"Some proposed urgent remedies, including renationalisation, stronger enforcement, and even withholding payments from water companies until standards improve."

Channel 4's Dirty Business documentary triggered significant public response from Independent readers regarding Britain's river pollution crisis. Readers expressed anger over untreated sewage being discharged into rivers and coastal waters, highlighting environmental and public health dangers including e-coli infections. Many attributed the crisis to systemic failures including privatization, deregulation, neoliberal policies, and austerity measures that enabled water company executives to maximize profits while ecosystems deteriorated. Commenters identified offshore investors, corporate greed, and government complicity as contributing factors. Proposed solutions included renationalization of water companies, stricter regulatory enforcement, and consumer payment withholding until service standards improve.

Read at www.independent.co.uk