Hackney residents are being invited to keep watch over the River Lea later this month at an evening event that its organisers describe as part river ritual, part comedy night and part political pressure campaign.
A Vigil for the River Lea takes place at Leaside, 34 Spring Lane, E5, from 5pm to 7pm on Sunday 25 October. Entry is free, but there are 60 tickets, which must be booked in advance.
The event is one of a series of “mass lobbies” run by the marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) under its Clean the Bill campaign, which is pressing MPs to toughen the Clean Water Bill before it becomes law.
Organiser Matthew Bennett, a Hackney resident, said: “I’m an outraged local citizen who has had enough of the pollution, corruption, lies, fat cat pay outs, hose pipe bans whilst 592 million litres of water leaks out of Thames water broken pipes every day, 25% of the overall capacity!
“We are using the River Lea as a lightning rod for this national issue.”
Thames Water’s own figures show it leaked 570.4 million litres a day in 2023-24, just under a quarter of the water it supplied. The company says leakage has fallen since, but it missed its regulatory target for cutting leaks in 2025-26 and incurred a £28.6m penalty as a result.
Witnesses
The evening opens with attendees collecting LED candles and marking their reasons for coming on a map of the Lea, followed by a short briefing on what is harming the river, which organisers say is officially in bad ecological condition. Sewage, road runoff, misconnected drains and historic contamination will all be covered.
Marsh volunteers, rowers, anglers, ecologists and young people will then speak about what they have seen along the river, before a session tracing responsibility from Thames Water through to regulators and government.
A quiz called “Fact or Faeces?” will ask the audience to sort true claims about storm overflows, water bills and monitoring from false ones.
The headline act is comedian Coral Bevan, who will perform a set adapted for the Lea as her character Fisherman Jon.
Lobbying
The evening ends with ten minutes set aside for attendees to write to their MPs, record short testimonies about why the Lea matters to them, and sign up for further local campaigning. Organisers say Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott has been invited.
The Bill
The Clean Water Bill was announced in the King’s Speech in May, and SAS describes it as the biggest overhaul of water legislation since the industry was privatised more than 30 years ago.
It follows a government white paper published in January, which promised to replace Ofwat with a single new regulator and to create a water ombudsman with legally binding powers to settle customer complaints.
At the Labour party conference last month, the prime minister said the bill would be strengthened to remove limits on government share ownership in water companies, opening the way to changes in how they are owned.
The bill has yet to be introduced to Parliament.
SAS argues the plans do not go far enough. It wants the bill to set out a route away from the privatised model, make water companies legally liable for harm to health and the environment, and create tougher independent regulators with powers to make polluters pay.
According to SAS, raw sewage was discharged into England’s waters 288,649 times in 2025, and 35p of every pound paid in water bills goes on debt and dividends.
The event is open to all ages, and no expertise is needed. Leaside’s licensed bar will stay open until 10pm for anyone who wants to continue the discussion.
A Vigil for the River Lea
Sunday 25 October 2026, 5pm–7pm
Leaside, 34 Spring Lane, London E5 9HQ
Free – book at tickettailor.com/events/surfersagainstsewage1/2456378
More on the campaign: cleanthebill.org
