Watering Down Wales?

The regulator, Ofwat, has proposed charge increases for England and Wales's privatised water companies. The water companies are unhappy, as most wanted much bigger increases to improve their intrastructure. Customers are unhappy, as some privatised water companies have taken on debt, to lavish rewards on their shareholders and CEOs. At the same time, many of these actual monopolies have escalated the pumping of untreated sewage (often illegally), into rivers and seas. This is only supposed to happen when there's a flooding risk. It, however, saves expenditure (https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jul/11/ofwat-accused-of-showing-contempt-to-customers-over-water-bill-price-rises). One of the biggest increases is for Welsh Water (Dwr Cymru). This 'not-for-profit' company's average bill will go up to about £600 pa. This is a massive 44% increase. One can only hope that this reflects the company's geographical situation. Wales has a very long coastline, several major rivers and lots of rocky terrain. It certainly can't reflect population wealth. The cost of living crisis has had major impacts. This is especially so, in employment-blighted former mining and steel-making towns and cities.