Dirty Business- The Water Companies are profiteering lying bastards

It really is a big problem and water companies are not making money. They are worth next to nothing

This isn't entirely the case. Some are making money, some aren't - now. They couldn't pay dividends if they were not making profit, that is not allowed. South East Water, for example, have not paid dividends to shareholders for a couple of tax years at least. Some water companies are still in profit and so are still paying dividends. Lots - South East included - have huge amounts of debt. Some of the debt is borrowed, in the form of high interest loans, from the shareholders. So they may not be getting dividends paid but they are getting immense amounts of interest paid to them from those high interest loans. It's like a game of Monopoly, but they're a private company, so they can't be treated differently from other private companies, that wouldn't be 'fair'.
And if any government wanted to re-nationalise these water companies, how on earth could they afford to take on that debt alongside running the company?

Worth remembering that the water boards had large amounts of debt before they were privatised. But these companies were allowed to take on each water authority as a private entity debt free. The government, or more correctly, the taxpayer had to deal with the 5 BILLION GBP of debt that was written off when the industry was privatised. If it could be traced back, we're probably still paying for it......

The owners are often foreign companies who don’t care. Big fines just hit us, the consumers.

what I want to know is why the shareholders who have profited so hugely from us being overcharged and underserved, why do they not have to foot a bit of the bill for sorting out the infrastructure?

'Lloyds Names' - and their unlimited liability was an entirely different structure, they were investors providing capital for underwriting. Which is why so many went bankrupt during the 80s. Share holders are completely different and, in all companies, the have limited liability. They are not responsible for the day to day running of companies. The things their voting rights extend to are also limited. Which is just one reason why something as basic as water should never have been allowed to be run by a private company in the first place.

Forgive me if I'm being totally ignorant, but I don't understand this, as apparently the shareholders have made billions in profit? So, surely that could be in public hands instead, and reinvested to improve infrastructure?
I don't understand capitalism at all. Clean water is a human right. It's also a human right to be able to visit nature and waterways without getting sick as a result. Surely nobody should profit financially from water? I feel the same about housing. Human beings deserve clean water and safe shelter, simply by virtue of being human.

I helped on a geography trip a couple of years ago, the kids were measuring flow etc. We were given strict instructions not to touch the water and had loads of hand sanitiser around. The previous year, we'd been in the water in wellies.
I still got very ill and vomited so much I passed out.

Sadly, the timing of the screening of this has meant that Epstein and now Iran has taken priority with our media.

I watched it and was appalled. I was brought up in the South West Water area and swam in the sea most days of the summer growing up. I don’t ever remember issues with sewage but the beaches were always covered in oil from tankers.

I would definitely think twice before swimming in the sea now and am fearful as to how this programme will affect tourism in the area.

Even the Americans thought privatising water (a basic human right) was a step too far. The English have been swindled by their own governments.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1HobpebAQz/?mibextid=wwXIfr

A demonstration today in the constituency of the environment secretary. And another petition…

Organised by We Own It.

https://weownit.org.uk/public-ownership/water

The current situation must be impacting our economy in other ways… tourism and leisure industries and the NHS for starters.

I just watched this and am also absolutely fuming. The water companies need to be forced to pay for the overdue repairs and to compensate the victims, while this is is overseen back under public ownership. It is not acceptable to leave the burden of debt and repair to the public that they've lied, cheated and stolen from.

DH got giardia from our local beach. This was before we all discovered what the water companies were doing. It was dreadful for him, though he wasn’t as ill as he could have been, but it’s very catching and it was a week or so before he got a do, so he had to tell everyone he’d had contact with to go and get themselves tested too. He felt a bit like you would if you had to go back to erstwhile sexual partners and tell them you’ve got syphilis.

what I want to know is why the shareholders who have profited so hugely from us being overcharged and underserved, why do they not have to foot a bit of the bill for sorting out the infrastructure? Obvisouly the higher managers who’ve been raking it in should repay quite a lot, but I think the larger shareholders bear some responsibility too and should also be held to account.

I remember a relative of one was a shareholder at Lloyds who’d underwritten a ship which went down. He had to scrabble around to find a load of money to pay his share of the insurance, all the shareholders did.

(As you had to invest no less than 100,000 quid to be a Lloyd’s shareholder at the time, I didn’t actually have much sympathy for him. If you’ve got that much dosh to spare that you can just invest it…..)

Yes they are total cunts and should be arrested!

The Water Companies are worth nothing because they’ve been asset stripped and profits distributed to shareholders and in bonuses.

@TreesandGreen Going forward. Money is needed. £billions of it. No one has it. Not the Greens or anyone. It means we borrow it. We are maxed out borrowing. It really is a big problem and water companies are not making money. They are worth next to nothing. However the work they need to do is huge with a huge cost attached.

10112 signatures and counting!

10,000 reached!

Think it will be by tomorrow if not tonight. I keep refreshing the page.

I’m hoping that this will get to 10,000 signatures tonight… we really want to get it to 100,000.

Nationalise water companies to make water a non profit publicly owned asset

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/757426

I just finished watching it. It made me so angry, in a righteous indignation way.
Those poor people 😔
F Thatcher, f Cameron, f Truss, f rampant capitalism and the billionaires and chief execs.
The only party with a clear policy to re-nationalise water and other services is The Green Party I think? It's been their policy for years. I know much of Mumsnet dismisses The Green Party because of the trans issue. But, it's just one issue. On so many other issues, they're the only sane and humane option now. Privatisation has failed, and has caused misery and loss of innocent life.
Time for a revolution.

I know!

Perhaps one positive of all this is public education about what not to do to put down the loo.

What also shocked me was the amount of sanitary products in the sewage. Who the fuck is still flushing that stuff?

I think we need to make it a non-negotiable election issue.

@Roselily123 sadly it did get into our drinking water in Brixham last year. Massive outbreak of cryptosporidium and we all had to drink bottled water for weeks. Shocking behaviour from these companies. 💔

I think if we had 1 national water company people would feel they could club together and do something. The fact it is so fragmented means each area has similar but different issues and not potentially as many scientists gathering the actual data for those areas - making it unclear what battles to fight. We need to renationalise the water but as I said I don't think Starmer has the balls. If we sued for malpractice and threat to life we could use the money to put into the new systems and make them nationally accountable with annual £ ring-fenced for upkeep.

We can prevail … look at the poll tax.

And cracks are appearing in the concrete sarcophagus that has been protecting Epstein and his web.

It wasn’t long ago that Andrew and his ilk were untouchable.