Instagram user urges residents to use sea as toilet in video satire of Southern Water
16:31, 08 June 2022
updated: 17:23, 08 June 2022
An Instagrammer has urged residents to 'excrete out to help out' in a tongue-in-cheek video targeting Southern Water.
Damien Gabet posted a video on social media jokingly encouraging residents to take their toilet to the sea in Margate.
Last year, hundreds of protesters gathered in the town to demand an end to wastewater releases along the county’s coastline.
It followed a power outage at the under-fire firm’s pumping station in Broadstairs which saw “unscreened wastewater” flow into the sea on October 5.
Filming in Margate, Mr Gabet says: "It’s been a tough winter for us all this year.
"But few have felt it harder than our Great British water companies.
"That’s because when it rained, they had to work hard to protect their shareholders' interests by pouring unscreened sewage directly into the sea.
"That’s why I, Damien Gabet, writer and eco-hero, have teamed up with Southern Water here in Margate, to help ease the strain on your drains.
"Give your local water company a helping hand this summer by simply taking your toilet to the sea – when nature calls.
"So, come on Britain: Excrete Out to Help Out!".
It comes after some frustrated residents refused to pay their Southern Water bills in protest at sewage releases off the Kent coast.
Many householders - including Faversham rocker Bob Geldof - withheld money owed to the under-fire company.
In response, Southern Water threatened “further action" to recover the unpaid cash, warning those refusing to cough up that they faced "collections activity".
But in a surprise move, it then offered discounts of up to 100% to those standing firm.
The travel writer's slogan is a play on word's on chancellor Rishi Sunak's Eat Out to Help Out scheme during the coronavirus pandemic