Sewage spills, billions in debt, surging bills: What you need to know about the Thames Water scandal

Evening Standard

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00:00Thames Water can't seem to keep its name out of the headlines.

00:03From sewage spills to owing billions in debt,

00:06the UK's biggest water company has come under a lot of heat recently.

00:10And its grand rescue plan has just fallen through.

00:13Here's a breakdown of the whole scandal.

00:15Thames Water first got into trouble when it was revealed

00:17how much sewage was being dumped into UK seas and rivers.

00:21According to data from the Environment Agency,

00:23water companies spilled raw sewage into England's blue spaces

00:27for a record time of 3.61 million hours in 2024.

00:31Why would they do this?

00:33Well, during periods of heavy rainfall,

00:35sewers can often overflow,

00:37which can in turn flood homes, roads and open spaces.

00:40In order to prevent this,

00:41the UK sewer system has been designed

00:43so that excess wastewater is discharged into seas and rivers.

00:47And on top of this,

00:48it was found that water companies often dump sewage into our waterways

00:51even when it's not necessary.

00:53This obviously led to a lot of public anger.

00:55Spills are hugely damaging to the environment

00:58and put people using these blue spaces at risk of illness.

01:01So what was done about all this?

01:03Well, Ofwatt carried out an extensive investigation,

01:06which resulted in Thames Water being ordered to pay

01:08£123 million for breaching rules on wastewater operations.

01:13This fine added to the company's already huge £19 billion debt.

01:18So in an effort to save its skin and avoid nationalisation,

01:21Thames Water partnered with New York private equity giant KKR.

01:26They agreed to acquire a stake in the company for $4 billion

01:29and help raise funds to pay off Thames Water's debt.

01:32However, the firm has now suddenly withdrawn its financial support pledge

01:36due to political uncertainty around the water sector,

01:39leaving Thames Water back at square one.

01:41The water company said the news was disappointing,

01:44but that it continues to believe

01:45that a sustainable recapitalisation of the company

01:47is in the best interests of all stakeholders.

01:50Thames Water needs to secure fresh funding

01:52for all its operations by the end of June.

01:54Otherwise, it could be placed

01:55into a special administration regime by the UK government,

01:59effectively meaning temporary nationalisation.

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