What’s so bad about Thames Water?
Thames has imposed a hosepipe ban in London and is pressing for a drought order, yet it has the worst record of any of the water firms for fixing leaks – missing its mandatory reduction target for the fourth year running. Ofwat has blamed Thames for worsening the effects of the present drought, and the company faces a fine of up to £140m for wasting 900 million litres a day – enough to fill 350 Olympic swimming pools. But this month it announced a 31% profit rise to £346m, and a £276m dividend payment to its German owner. Utilities giant RWE bought Thames in 2000 for £4.7bn and is looking to sell or float the business at a big profit – raising worries over the wisdom of allowing foreign businesses to own essential utilities.
