Party has vowed to end sewage scandal if it wins power, but experts say it will have to act quickly and ambitiously

Since the UK’s general election was called, the Labour party has been seeking to capitalise on voters’ fury over the sewage filling England’s rivers and seas.

The debt-ridden, leaking, polluting water industry, owned largely by foreign investment firms, private equity and pension funds, has overseen decades of underinvestment and the large-scale dumping of raw sewage into rivers. It has become one of the touchstone issues of this election, with voters across the political spectrum angry at the polluting of waterways treasured by local communities. Groups have sprung up to look after rivers and lakes; protests pop up most weekends along the coast.

Pennon Group annual report lists dangers to water quality posed by higher temperatures

The owner of South West Water has warned that global heating will increase the risk of outbreaks of the parasite that caused diarrhoea and vomiting in south Devon.

Pennon Group said that “gradual and significant increasing average and high temperatures” could pose “risks to water quality and water treatment” – including the cryptosporidium parasite – in its annual report, published this week.

Open letter signed by naturalist Chris Packham and comedian Paul Whitehouse says pollution is degrading lake

The next government must give Windermere greater protection from sewage pollution, campaigners including the naturalist Chris Packham and the comedian Paul Whitehouse have urged in an open letter to all party leaders.

The campaign group Save Windermere, which organised the letter, says the lake has huge ecological significance, is home to rare and protected species and brings in about £750m to the economy. But the signatories, who include the Wildlife Trust, the countryside charity the CPRE and WildFish, say it is being degraded by pollution.

Pennon CEO Susan Davy gave up part of pay for a second year, but she should also miss cash from long-term incentive plan

• Boss of South West Water’s owner gains £300,000 pay rise

Here’s a rarity: a chief executive turning down an annual bonus two years in a row out of solidarity with the suffering customers. But when the company is Pennon Group, owner of South West Water, the operation currently knee-deep in a diarrhoea and vomiting outbreak in Devon caused by polluted water, Susan Davy had little real choice. She cannot expect applause for leading “from the front” and “living our values”, as she described her decision to turn down £237,000 in cash.

In fact, the question is why she still thought it appropriate to collect £298,000 under her separate long-term share-based scheme. That award sent her overall pay up from £543,000 to £860,000, a figure that may cause stomach pain across the south-west, not just in the coastal town of Brixham, where the parasite cryptosporidium was found in the system.

Pay rise for Pennon Group CEO Susan Davy comes despite outrage over Devon diarrhoea outbreak caused by polluted water

• Susan Davy should lose all bonuses after Devon outbreak

The boss of South West Water’s owner has received a pay increase of £300,000, weeks after an outbreak of diarrhoea caused by a parasite in Devon’s water supply.

Susan Davy, the chief executive of Pennon Group, was awarded £860,000 in total pay for the latest financial year, up from £543,000 the year before, according to accounts published on Monday.