Water Torture?

Carolyn Roberts (Greston College, London) heads a class action for 20 million consumers against England's privatised water companies. If she wins, the water companies could be liable to pay up to £800m in compensation to their 'customers' (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/15/class-action-lawsuit-england-water-companies). The water companies have proved to be money making monopolies (we all need water and have to have our wastes disposed of- there's no actual choice!). In the financial year 2021- 2022, the privatised water companies, rather than spending much of their loot on necessary upgradings to their systems, dispensed circa £966m to shareholders. Roberts claims the water companies' actual discharges of raw sewage, 'far outstripped' those they self-reported to the Environmental Agency and Ofwat.The Environmental Agency and Ofwat are supposed to regulate water company activities. Discharge boosts water company profits, whilst damaging their customer's environments (the rivers and beaches they might hope to use). It's suspected that, if the companies are forced to pay compensation, they will attempt to get the tax payer to 'save them' from insolvency. Many of the shareholders live outside the UK and much of the money is unlikely to return.