Quicktake
Britain’s water industry is bracing for the biggest overhaul since privatization in the 1980s amid a scandal over systematic sewage spills and chronic pipe leaks. The crisis follows decades of poor regulatory oversight that allowed company owners to pay themselves billions of pounds in dividends instead of using the money to maintain the infrastructure. Things have got so bad that Thames Water Ltd., which serves about a quarter of the UK population, is being taken into special measures and could eventually be broken up or nationalized. The industry’s finances are too weak to cover the heavy investments needed to fix the problems, so customers will be forced to shoulder the cost through higher bills.
UK water utilities have enjoyed a rock-steady stream of income from bill-paying households and businesses, but many of them are laboring under heavy debts racked up by the international investment funds that own them.
