Britain | Privatisation in Britain

How to understand the woeful state of Britain’s water utilities

The industry’s regulator deserves much of the blame

Thames Water sewer workers
Image: Mark Power / Magnum Photos

THE ANNUAL Henley Regatta, a rowing competition, is a fine example of genteel Englishness. Spectators in blazers and boat-club ties sip on Pimms as they watch rowers race on a stretch of the River Thames. Before this year’s event, which began on July 2nd, there was an unwelcome guest: a conservation charity reported high levels of E-coli and other bacterial markers of human faeces in the river. This was the result, it said, of sewage pollution.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Circling the drain”

From the July 8th 2023 edition

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