Julie & Heather Preen
Julie Maughan is a sewage pollution campaigner and the mother of Heather Preen, who died in 1999 after contracting E Coli on a Devon beach. The Preen family’s heart-breaking story is at the centre of Channel 4’s Dirty Business series. Following its release, Julie is requesting a meeting with Keir Starmer to demand an end to the decades-long public health crisis.
“My daughter Heather was eight years old when dirty water killed her. She was a fun-loving little girl who knew only love, happiness and friendship. That summer we went on holiday as a family of four and came home as a family of three.
“That is the reality of what polluted seas and rivers can do to our children, and why it’s so important that real action, not hollow words, is taken to end sewage pollution. Water companies tried to deflect blame for Heather’s death and twenty-seven years later they are still pumping sewage into our waterways. They cannot be trusted to protect our health.
“After all this time, all the government has done is publish plans that continue to protect investors and shareholders, not the children swimming in our seas and rivers. There is nothing in those plans that would have saved Heather. Nothing that will stop this happening to another family. That is not good enough. I will not stop until no other parent has to live with what I live with every single day.”
Reuben Santer
Reuben is an ex-surfer and teacher from Devon. He was diagnosed with Meniere’s Disease after surfing in polluted water. His story is told in episode 3 of Dirty Business.
“Developing a chronic illness after surfing in polluted water has changed my life. What began as frustration at missing a few winter swells became something permanent: surgery, ongoing treatment, and the grief of losing the identity I built around the sea.
“How does this happen in a wealthy country in 2026? Since water privatisation, companies have paid out billions in dividends while infrastructure lags. Sewage overflows are routine, and surfers now check pollution alerts as carefully as tide charts. I’m sick of it. This isn’t bad luck – it’s the predictable result of monopoly providers prioritising shareholder returns over public health.
“Reforms barely scratch the surface. Costs of overdue upgrades fall on households, while dividends and debt persist. We deserve rivers and seas that don’t make us sick, and a water system built for people and the environment, not profit.”
Chris Hines
Chris co-founded Surfers Against Sewage 35 years ago and features in episode 2 of Dirty Business. He has been campaigning against sewage pollution for decades (and is still a paying SAS member!)
“It’s disgusting that water companies are STILL profiting from dumping sewage into our seas and rivers. That the government stands by while people get sick and families are torn apart – all so shareholders can keep getting paid.
“That’s exactly why we started Surfers Against Sewage back in 1990. We drove a massive clean up of the UK coastline and our campaigning helped ensure all sewage received at least secondary treatment (there had previously been no treatment works).
“But decades on, that has been allowed to slip and water companies have returned to the obscene levels of pollution we are now seeing. To make matters worse, the Environment Agency, who are supposed to be regulating the industry and protecting the public, are continually siding with water companies. It’s utterly pathetic.
“Dirty Business lays bare what SAS sees every day. People are getting ill. Children are being rushed to hospital. Families like Heather Preen’s are left with grief that never goes away.
“We need fundamental change – and THIS is our chance. I’ve been fighting this for over three decades, and I’ve seen that people power works. It’s how we’ve forced change before, and it’s how we can win again.”
How is Surfers Against Sewage responding?
Giles Bristow, Surfers Against Sewage Chief Executive, said: “Dirty Business tells the truth the water industry has spent thirty years trying to bury. A girl is dead. Thousands are still getting sick. And what does this Government offer? More of the same. Its hollow reform plan, laughably called ‘once-in-a-generation,’ tinkers with regulation while protecting the ruthless pursuit of profit. That is an insult to everyone who has suffered, and every bill-payer forced to foot the bill for this scandal.
“For three decades, millions of hours of sewage have been dumped into the nation’s waters while millions in payouts have been siphoned off. But this isn’t about data and statistics. It’s about Heather. It’s about Reuben. A mother in surgery after a swim. A surfer gambling with his health. A child rushed to hospital after a day at the beach. Real people, still suffering, while shareholders get richer. You cannot put a price on clean water. But this Government has. And we are all paying it.
“The human and environmental cost of the water industry’s corporate greed has just been exposed for all the nation to see. The system is rigged for profit from the top to the bottom. Prime Minister, profiting from pollution is wrong. It has always been wrong. Scrap this dirty business now.”