The Post Office Scandal Goes On But Can We Trust The Water Companies - A Report By Unearthed

20th January 2024

Unearthed is a Greenpeace web site and their investigation into one water company is very worrying. It begs the question of - Can we trust any of the privatised industries running essential services to tell the truth if it means cutting dividends to shareholders. What was once built up with taxpayers money seem to be getting bled dry to pay dividends and load up companies with debts.

South West Water was inadequately prepared for the record-breaking heatwave that hit England in 2022 and was "not honest" with regulators about the risk a drought posed to the company's water supplies, according to an Environment Agency (EA) assessment obtained by Unearthed.

The environmental regulator told counterparts at Ofwat that South West Water (SWW) had shown "complacency" prior to the drought and "a lack of understanding of their own supply system".

“SWW were not honest, open and transparent with regulators about their drought projections and potential risks to security of supply,” the EA wrote in a July email to the watchdog for the privatised water companies.

The email, obtained by Unearthed under freedom of information laws, said “SWW acted too late” in response to the drought, and that this “presented a genuine risk of loss of supply in West Cornwall”.

This lack of preparation and planning by the company, which provides drinking water for around 3.5 million people across the southwest of England, had “a huge impact” on staff resources at the EA and “undoubtedly” had an impact on customers and the environment, it added.

Read the full story on Unearthed