Sewage spills, billions in debt, surging bills: What you need to know about the Thames Water scandal
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00:00Thames Water can't seem to keep its name out of the headlines.
00:03From sewage spills to owing billions in debt,
00:06the UK's biggest water company has come under a lot of heat recently.
00:10And its grand rescue plan has just fallen through.
00:13Here's a breakdown of the whole scandal.
00:15Thames Water first got into trouble when it was revealed
00:17how much sewage was being dumped into UK seas and rivers.
00:21According to data from the Environment Agency,
00:23water companies spilled raw sewage into England's blue spaces
00:27for a record time of 3.61 million hours in 2024.
00:31Why would they do this?
00:33Well, during periods of heavy rainfall,
00:35sewers can often overflow,
00:37which can in turn flood homes, roads and open spaces.
00:40In order to prevent this,
00:41the UK sewer system has been designed
00:43so that excess wastewater is discharged into seas and rivers.
00:47And on top of this,
00:48it was found that water companies often dump sewage into our waterways
00:51even when it's not necessary.
00:53This obviously led to a lot of public anger.
00:55Spills are hugely damaging to the environment
00:58and put people using these blue spaces at risk of illness.
01:01So what was done about all this?
01:03Well, Ofwatt carried out an extensive investigation,
01:06which resulted in Thames Water being ordered to pay
01:08£123 million for breaching rules on wastewater operations.
01:13This fine added to the company's already huge £19 billion debt.
01:18So in an effort to save its skin and avoid nationalisation,
01:21Thames Water partnered with New York private equity giant KKR.
01:26They agreed to acquire a stake in the company for $4 billion
01:29and help raise funds to pay off Thames Water's debt.
01:32However, the firm has now suddenly withdrawn its financial support pledge
01:36due to political uncertainty around the water sector,
01:39leaving Thames Water back at square one.
01:41The water company said the news was disappointing,
01:44but that it continues to believe
01:45that a sustainable recapitalisation of the company
01:47is in the best interests of all stakeholders.
01:50Thames Water needs to secure fresh funding
01:52for all its operations by the end of June.
01:54Otherwise, it could be placed
01:55into a special administration regime by the UK government,
01:59effectively meaning temporary nationalisation.