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When We Own It: public ownership of water in the 21st century

After 30 years of disastrous privatisation, it’s time to take back our water.

By Cat Hobbs
When We Own It: public ownership of water in the 21st century
Image: We Own It
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As the temperature goes up this summer, a refreshing dip in the river looks tempting. But I can’t ignore the statistics. Thanks to Gill Plimmer’s excellent investigative research, I know that only 14% of our rivers are safe, and that jumping into them is risky.

In Oxford, many people enjoy cooling down in the river on a hot summer’s day. With predictions of the UK getting as hot as Turkey by 2050, our rivers, lakes and open air swimming spots are ever more vital.

But the privatised companies taking care of them on our behalf aren’t taking care at all. Water quality in the UK is so bad that we’re facing fines from the EU.

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0