In 1999, eight-year-old Heather Preen contracted E. coli on a Devon beach and died within two weeks. Now, a new Channel 4 drama, Dirty Business, revisits the case, aiming to spark outrage over sewage dumping by water companies. Her mother, Julie Maughan, says the family felt forgotten: 'It felt as if Heather didn’t matter.'
The three-part factual drama follows 'sewage sleuths' Peter Hammond and Ash Smith, who used hidden cameras and AI to uncover industrial-scale sewage dumps. It highlights how privatisation in 1989 and deregulation under David Cameron led to a focus on profits over investment, resulting in widespread raw sewage discharges.
In 2024 alone, water companies dumped raw sewage into England's rivers and seas for 3.61 million hours. Heather's family had chosen Dawlish Warren for its Blue Flag beach, but her foot entered a sewage outlet. She later developed severe diarrhoea and died from E. coli O157. Maughan's marriage broke down, and her ex-husband later took his own life.
Maughan initially hesitated to participate but now feels the drama is vital: 'I didn’t know if I could go back into that world. But I’m glad I have.' The series includes whistleblower testimonies and aims to hold water companies accountable for decades of pollution.
