With many parts of the UK facing restrictions on water usage, this week we ask the question whether it’s time to nationalise our water companies.

The Argument For

England’s water companies are leaking 20% of our water supply, compared with 5% in Germany. At a time when hosepipe bans are coming into force, Thames Water has admitted wasting 600 million litres of water a day.

Our water companies routinely discharge raw sewerage into rivers and on our beaches. Surfers Against Sewage monitor these occurrences with an interactive map on its website, here. However, many would say that even where pollution leaks do occur, the behaviours of the water companies are not changing.

Scottish Water, which has remained publicly owned, invests on average 35% more than their English counterparts. In England, in 2018, the nine regional water and sewerage companies paid out 95% of their profits to shareholders. This includes a complex web of sovereign wealth funds and private equity.

The Argument Against

With climate change and population growth we need investment in our water infrastructure. Since privatisation in 1989, Owfat find that investment in our water companies has doubled. Do we really want the Government buying our water companies at a cost of approximately £90 billion, when energy is the number one priority?

England’s water companies act with high levels of self-reporting. Customer satisfaction levels in our water is around 90%. The water companies have a regulator in the form of Owfat, who protect the customers and the environment and scrutinise their business plans.

With UK inflation expected to rise to 13% later in the year the water companies are reporting increases of just 1.7%. This means, in real terms, bills are falling through privatisation. It has been estimated that between 2015 and 2025 there will be a 10% reduction. And, if you search the UK costs of water compared with the rest of Europe, we are at the cheaper end of the tables.

So, where do you stand?