In the News
Who should pay to clean up the UK's rivers?
![](https://tutor2u-net.imgix.net/user-photos/graham-watson.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=100&q=80&w=100)
2nd October 2023
It will be interesting to see what OFWAT makes of the business plans of the UK's water companies this week, and, as a result, the extent to which they are able to pass the costs of infrastructure investment onto consumers. The sector is currently under close scrutiny as a result of high levels of leakage and continued instances of marine pollution.
Please read: As under-fire water firms present their price proposals, who’ll be cleaning up? Alex Lawson
![](https://tutor2u-net.imgix.net/library/statistic_id1180685_number-of-pollution-incidents-caused-by-water-firms-in-the-uk-2019-2021-by-company.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=80&w=800)
Here we go again, with water companies wanting OFWAT to allow them to increase water bills by up to £156 per annum to fund an ambitious amount of infrastructure investment.
These companies really are tone deaf: at a time when there's widespread criticism of sewage leaks and marine pollution, they want the customer to fund investment. Let me see - what's the collective level of dividend payments in the sector over the last decade? Maybe some of that should have been spent on investment?
Please read: Water firms want bill rises to cut leaks and spills (BBC)
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