Raw Sewage. Open Water. Your Health. Sign Now.
Every time you swim in open water, you are taking a risk that you should never have to take. Water companies have been pumping raw sewage into rivers, lakes and seas where triathletes and open-water swimmers train and race. They have been getting away with it for years. It has to stop.
The petition “End the Sewage Pollution Scandal” is building pressure on decision-makers to act. The more names it carries, the harder it becomes to ignore. If you swim outside — in training, in racing, or just for the love of it — this is your fight.
Even if you don’t swim or bathe in the water, it’s just disgusting.
– Water companies claim Victorian sewers cannot separate rainfall from sewage — true, but they dump continuously in dry weather too, because it is cheaper than treating it.
– Both the previous and current governments have failed to fund the Environment Agency (the enforcers) properly, despite the fact that fines levied on water companies could self-fund it, which makes you wonder who, exactly, the government is working for.
Sign the petition now. Then share it with your club, your training group, your race WhatsApp, anyone who gets in open water.
Last Updated on 14 March 2026 by the5krunner
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors.
