Unfortunately it’s a symptom of climate change (more rain) and the fact we have a combined sewage system in the uk (I.e. both sewage and rainwater goes into the same pipe network).
Overflows are part of that system to release excess waste water when there is a sudden influx of rain that the sewage network can’t cope with. If it wasn’t released into the sea, it would be coming back into homes etc.
Obviously more needs done to protect environment, but just wanted to highlight it’s not because of privatisation…and it’s not a quick fix
I live in a US city with ostensibly separate "storm sewers" (for rainwater) and "sanitary sewers" (for the other stuff). But the aging "sanitary sewer" pipes have a lot of leaks, where a lot of rainwater still gets in. They've been replacing pipes for years, but it's a slow and expensive process.
Yes, the UK got destroyed. But for a beautiful moment in time, we created a lot of value for the hedge funds, disaster capitalists and kleptocrats.
Brexit, Privatisation, Covid, Tory in general. It'll be deeply ironic if it's shit that brings down the Tory Government. Note that as well as providing water to 25% of the UK's population Thames Water also processes the shit of 25% of the UK's population. And dumps it in the rivers when it rains. Or doesn't rain.
- Oh Noes! Drought! What are we going to do?
- Same thing we always do.
- What's that?
- Double down on the corruption and make out like bandits
Privatizing public utilities is such a brilliant choice! Sure, it means a reduction in the quality of service the public receives, and ends up costing the taxpayer more because now there’s profit to be made on top of expenses, and yeah, sometimes they collapse or fail because the shareholders play fast and loose with the rules - but just think of the return on investment for the owners! And as we all know, when the owner class benefits, we all benefit!
Zero incentive (not strictly zero but fuck me, the mechanisms to deliver the work are obtuse, opaque and loaded with risk) to build out the kind of infrastructure needed for long-term, sustainable growth.
Too much reactive work, not enough proactive. And the latter would, arguably, only really be effectively manageable if it was a state-run enterprise. And even then, the political battlefield is so short-term now, who would sign-up for the kind of equitable infrastructure that we need, but the kind that costs a tonne now and delivers benefits to the next generation?
I know Thames Water has long term problems in that it is struggling to source water both to supply the expansion of the GLA, and retain a reliable supply during summer time droughts and coming climate change, this is an issue all over England though not just the GLA. Some of the solutions involved piping water from the Scottish lochs south, and making new reservoirs in Wales, both of which were vetoed by the respective devolved governments. The demand for Water in England to fuel industry and agriculture is going to exceed what can supplied by a large margin in the near future. Crunch time is coming for England.
Honestly having been through London and much of England, it is apparent just how densely populated the region is, and supporting their ever growing population is going to be massive problem the British government will not be able to deal with, this bankruptcy is just an accounting error compared to the real issues that are coming.
They can’t do the former without the latter now, which is holding up the house building significantly. Literally no capacity for new houses to go onto the electrical grid in chunks of the South East.
Can’t have houses without the infrastructure to support it; haven’t spent a penny on infrastructure in decades, so the consequences are coming back to bite us now
Imagine the city of London not having access to potable water and sanitation...that definitely would be a collapse. The world would keep turning but the UK would not
I love how they used the cheapest time to borrow money in decades to fill their pockets and run up massive debts.
Then, when the money tap ran dry, and it was time to invest, they gave the broken "business" back to the taxpayer.
And it's all legal. No one will be jailed!
This is what happens when a service is privatised. And profit is prioritised. It boggles my brain that water, electric, transport etc etc were ever allowed to be privatised. The NHS is next.
This is often the justification for privitisation. Underinvest until the organisation breaks, then turn around and say 'ha! More proof government has no business in running anything!' and hand it over to private hands.
basically what's happening right now, the queues for certain operations are so long that people are raiding their equity or taking out loans and going private and no doubt being operated on by the same surgeon in the same operating theatre.
Dentistry is just as bad.
That's very often the model of privatization. Check out the documentary "Taken for a Ride", about the US oil/tire/car industries using degradation of service to destroy and privatize public transportation. https://youtu.be/p-I8GDklsN4
My Privatised Thames Water Annual water bill is cheaper for the same volume of water used than my relative's annual bill from the still in public ownership Welsh Water. Yes: no one in the UK wants to talk about how Welsh Water is still in public hands.
Furthermore the amount of work and investment in the water supply locally has been far greater since privatisation than before when the water supply was treated as a cash cow by whichever Gov was in power and next to no investment in the future during those times was done - which is why all the pipes now leak and sewage overflows into the rivers!
Frankly water is far too cheap which is why mending a leak costs far more than the water lost through the leak....
This overlooks the problem that you had a government where a sufficient majority thought privatising an essential service was a good idea. Or more particularly, that the system of government allowed it in the past, allows it now and will allow it again in the future.
I do not have the intense hatred of private industry that some people do, but some services are *not* meant to be profit-driven entities. Public education, prisons, military, essential services, etc. The primary goal of these things should be *what they are*, not profit for the investors in it.
ah yes, the old privatisation campaigns such as 'if you see Sid, tell him' etc. where the common folk got their allocation of shares and promptly sold them to the big boys on day one.
Why don't people just sell / rent their homes and go spend time in other countries? Possible to find a job in other countries.
I know one guy from UK that lives in Klaipeda Lithuania for time being. Packed his bag, found a job and doing ok.
It's not for everyone.
Masses cope, people who can try to diversify their options.
Like I said, I have acquaintances from UK who are living in Lithuania having good time.
Also I know Lithuanians who work remote and live in Portugal, a cheap country to rent.
There are options but these are not overnight solutions.
It that easy champ. Friends, family, communities and careers. Can’t just down tools as easily as that.
You knowing one guy is not exactly a measure for success…great to hear that it’s possible, sure, but anecdotes aren’t exactly a compelling case
Countryman as you said. Singular. I'm assuming with your comment that he has room for everyone else? No? Than that's a singular solution to one person's problem. His solution doesn't scale.
"When you know not of what you speak, your mouth is best used for chewing." - Joel Rosenberg
This is going to be one of the bigger monkey wrenches thrown into modern economies.
Economic growth is tied to population increase, but the resources essential to our survival are going to become more and more scarce.
They're already looking at immigration to solve the declining birthrate issues, but how long before the resource situation grows so dire, that we don't want to bring anyone in that isn't a high performing skilled worker (if that) because of the additional strain on our resources for those already present in country?
There's going to be a lot of straws falling on that camels back.
Author Peter Zeihan wrote [The End of the World Is Just the Beginning}(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_the_World_Is_Just_the_Beginning), which deals with many things, but one major part is shrinking populations are going to destroy the global economy. He talks about how the United States are one of the few countries where immigration can save the shrinking population.
Its a great book, but not a quick read by any means.
This is a highly selective post. By comparison Southern Trent Water made ÂŁ508 million in profit last year.
This is about Thames Water being badly managed over successive years leading to this and not collapse related. U.K. government is no more broke than say the US Government.
We do, however, have a significant problem with the state of infrastructure in London and the South East. There’s currently such a significant lack of grid capacity in west London that you won’t currently get planning for developments for at least 20 years. So many companies are tied to this appetite for insatiable growth and yet the infrastructure is so far from being able to actually support it.
The following submission statement was provided by /u/Bellybutton_fluffjar:
---
SS. The UK government privatised the water industry in the 1980s, creating a monopoly on water supply for a handful of companies and set up a weak regulator with little to no powers. Now the biggest of those water companies that supplies London and the south east, approximately 1 in 4 households in the entire of the UK is about to go bust under the weight of ÂŁ14bn of debt, failing infrastructure that has been under invested in and is leaking billions of litres of water a year at a time of drought, and increased shareholder profit, despite receiving more money than ever from struggling households in the 'cost of capitalism crisis' Now the broke UK government has to step in because y'know, you can't turn off people's access to water.
Related to collapse because this is yet another example of how the neo-liberal experiment of selling all your assets and running up huge debts in order to allow short term profits for a handful of wealthy people is failing wider society. This is the cornerstone of all our problems. Failure to plan long term, failure to invest properly. These are the same people we look at to solve climate issues, and they can't even get water to our houses.
---
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/14l351v/contingency_plans_reportedly_being_drawn_up_for/jptx869/
SS. The UK government privatised the water industry in the 1980s, creating a monopoly on water supply for a handful of companies and set up a weak regulator with little to no powers. Now the biggest of those water companies that supplies London and the south east, approximately 1 in 4 households in the entire of the UK is about to go bust under the weight of ÂŁ14bn of debt, failing infrastructure that has been under invested in and is leaking billions of litres of water a year at a time of drought, and increased shareholder profit, despite receiving more money than ever from struggling households in the 'cost of capitalism crisis' Now the broke UK government has to step in because y'know, you can't turn off people's access to water.
Related to collapse because this is yet another example of how the neo-liberal experiment of selling all your assets and running up huge debts in order to allow short term profits for a handful of wealthy people. This is the cornerstone of all our problems. Failure to plan long term, failure to invest properly. These are the same people we look at to solve climate issues, and they can't even get water to our houses.
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