Pledges and apologies will not be enough to clear UK waters of raw sewage

Activists plan to keep holding firms to account as some suggest it is customers who should be compensated

• English water companies offer apology and £10bn investment for sewage spills

Across the country this weekend campaigners will paddle out on their local rivers or beaches to warn water companies they will not put up with another summer of sewage pollution.

No doubt they will be buoyed up by the high-profile mea culpa trumpeted by privatised water companies on Thursday, along with a promise to treble their existing investment in pipes, water treatment works and water storage to £10bn over the next 10 years.