everything you need to know about the clean water bill
The Bill, Explained
The Clean Water Bill is coming. This is our one chance to fix the broken water system. It’s the moment the law decides our future. Get it right; it will protect people and the waters we love. But as it stands, the Bill doesn't go far enough. It will trap us in the same broken system which is failing us all. We have to change it before it’s too late.
What is the Clean Water Bill?
The Clean Water Bill, announced in May 2026, is the government’s planned legislation to overhaul how England's water system is operated. It’s the biggest review of legislation since the sector was privatised over 30 years ago (aka – when it all went to sh*t). Once parliament all agrees on the legislation, the Clean Water Bill will then officially become locked in law. The Bill is passing through Parliament right now. Meaning we only have a limited time to change it, before our future is set.
The Opportunity
The Clean Water Bill is our BIGGEST opportunity to fix the broken system in a generation. This is our moment to transform the water industry into one that works for people and the environment – and end sewage pollution. It’s the very opportunity we’ve been relentlessly campaigning for. And we have to make it count. Because we might not get this chance again.
Right now, we have a narrow window to make sure the UK Government do the right thing and #CleanTheBill. Local MPs have the power to change the Bill and put pressure on the government to go further. And MPs work for us, not water company shareholders. But MPs only fight for what we tell them matters. That’s why every voice, including yours, matters now more than ever.
What needs to change?
As it stands, the Bill still protects the system that caused the crisis. It protects the water companies and their greedy shareholders, not the public, our health, or our waters.
Water companies have spent decades dumping sewage, hiking our bills, letting infrastructure crumble, and accumulating billions in debt, all whilst paying out enormous dividends and bonuses. The Bill must end that model, not entrench it.
The privatised model can’t be fixed. It must be replaced. A new water system can be built to put us first, and this Bill is how we get there. But we need a bill that will put people and the environment before profit.
We need a Clean Water Bill that will:
What we're asking for
Reclaim the system.
End this failed privatised model and set out a clear roadmap for a water system that works for people and the environment, not shareholders.
Protect our health and the environment.
Protect the health of water users and make water companies legally accountable for the harm they cause to public health and the environment.
Stop the polluters, stop the sewage.
Introduce tough independent regulators, loophole-proof accountability, and enforcement that makes polluters pay.
ourvision forclean water
Our full policy asks for the Clean Water Bill. Three demands, five governing principles, and the detail behind each one.
