Our water infrastructure needed money spending on it to improve things. The government a while back decided that they didn't want to invest in it so they sold it off to private "investors". Then it turns out when private investors make an investment they usually want to turn a profit on that investment (massive shock I know). And the water infrastructure in the UK isn't a particularly profitable investment (another massive shock).
So in order to get their profits back from their investment they simply borrowed money in the name of Thames Water and then kept it. Then interest rates went up.
Because the greedy fucks have had their snouts in the trough without fixing or investing in the infrastructure.
Recently, whilst securing a loan to prevent them going bankrupt, they were planning on paying themselves massive bonuses with the loan.
Quite frankly they should have been thrown in jail for embezzlement.
Oh they've *already* paid some of those bonuses.
Because.... they've turned things around so well?
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jun/09/mps-ask-ministers-whether-they-will-recoup-thames-water-executive-bonuses
Less integrity than the un-maintained pipes they pump shit out of into our rivers and coastal waters.
Because they haven’t invested in making the network more reliable and leak-free?
Instead, the money goes on over-generous dividends to shareholders, even when the company is losing money, and outrageous bonuses to senior management even when they don’t perform.
Where I live in Buckinghamshire the water mains are reachIng the end of their useful lives. The company should have a programme of re-lining them with MDPE pipes. Instead, they merely respond to leaks with emergency repairs. They take a sticking plaster approach rather than fix the problem permanently. This means things are steadily getting worse.
Thames Water built a desalination plant n the Thames to turn salt water into fresh, potable water. It has never been fully commissioned and lies unused.
I could go on, and on, and on…
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