The Trafford branch of Extinction Rebellion (XR) was among those in attendance at a protest outside United Utilities.
The protesters assembled outside the office of the supplier for the North West in Warrington at around 10am on Friday.
The reason for the protest outside United Utilities was its record on storm overflow operation when there is a lot of rainfall, with the water company pumping sewage into the waterways for a total of more than 425,000 hours last year, more than any other water company in the country. In the same time it recorded a profit of more than £600 million.
XR Trafford was amongst those in attendance to roll out the 'Brown Carpet' and to award a 'Golden Turd' to the supplier.
Hannah Stanton, from Stretford, said: "It’s an absolute disgrace customers’ money is being spent on bonuses while our rivers and seas are full of turds and tampons. People have had enough."
Renate Aspden, from Sale, said: "On my United Utilities bill it states clearly I get charged for wastewater usage: 'the cost of collecting dirty water, cleaning it and returning it to the environment'.
"That's clearly not happening effectively. United Utilities is in breach of its contract with all of its customers.
"How can they pay out millions to investors and then tell us it is too expensive to invest in new infrastructure?"
A spokesperson for United Utilities explained its record on storm overflow operation is attributable to factors such as the amount of rainfall and proportion of sewers which combine sewage water with surface water, both of which are higher than than the national average in the North West.
A spokesperson for United Utilities said: "The views of all our customers and shareholders are important to us and we respect the rights of those who wish to protest. We know people want to see action to improve river health and we have outlined our plans for the biggest environmental improvement programme we have ever delivered.
"We are starting early on £1.5 billion of investment over the next two years, building on the 40 per cent reduction of storm overflow operation we’ve already achieved since 2020."
This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.
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