I am surprised so many of you think competition could not work with water. This country has invited in an extra 10 m people this century. There is no shortage of bread supplied by competing free enterprise but there is of water with Ofwat restricting monopolies from investing. There is no shortage of mobile phones and broadband cables supplied by competition, but a shortage of social housing and roadspace supplied by state monopoly.
So what extra investment might be made by competing water companies?
1. More borehole water extracted and cleaned for supply to grid or direct to customers
2 More new reservoirs
3 Possible desalination plants for coastal cities
4. More sewage treatment capacity
5 Modern pipe networks for new developments
6 Dedicated supply and pipes for big users like datacentres and drink manufacturers
7 Possible competition to optimise use of river extraction licences
8. Possible use of canals to transport water between river basins to transfer more to drier places
9. Possible household systems to collect rainwater for garden or toilet flushing uses
10. Use of seawater for cooling of industrial plant and equipment
July 27, 2025
A few useful ideas with downsides.
1. What would it do to the river eco system. Many rivers have dried in the South East.
2. Less farmland and housing land.
3. Ideal for the South East. Israel has two for a population of 9m.
4. Think fertilizer plants HEDF’s. Make it prifitable, or less of an overhead.
5.just sytematically replace all substandard piping.
6. Large storage tanks at user pount would be cheaper.
7. No comment.
8. The locks would have to stay open, effectively killng off pleasure craft, better known as the Birmingham Navy in my part of the country.
9. As a child I remember father installing two vast wine barrels filled from roof run off. Drinking water came from a well.
10. Best examples are marine engines where sea water cools the cooling water and coastal atomic power reactors. Downside is seawater is very corrosive and too expensive to pipe very far inland.
You offer some good thoughts that need honing in the world of practicality. I still think a national water grid is a dominant need.
July 27, 2025
Desalination is expensive and needs energy – no real need for it in the fairly wet UK. Grey or rainwater collection for flushing loos and for watering gardens could save very significant amounts of water.
July 27, 2025
So Kemi want to ban doctors from striking (but not nurses) clearly that would be rather sexist as 90% of nurses are female and doctors more like 50/50 though the men work more hours it seems.
So new doctors work for zero net pay until about age 32, earning jist about enough net pay to repay their student debt and interest, commuting and other costs of working, council tax… so zero left for rent, food, fun… and then with Kemi they will be banned from striking too.
Do we not have an anti modern slavery law? Are doctors exempt from this then? So even more reason for good doctors to move overseas then? Age 18 to age 32 and zero net pay all goes in tax, NI, training costs, interest and other costs for working. My son even had to pay £500 for an exam he needed recently, had he not passed he would have had to pay again!
July 27, 2025
I don’t understand this sentence in your post:
“There is no shortage of bread supplied by competing free enterprise but there is of water with Ofwat restricting monopolies from investing.”
It implies that the problem is that monopolies can’t invest. Isn’t you’re argument against monopolies?
Anyway, a difficulty i think many have with water competition is that it is har dto see how a consumer can choose thier water suppier when there is only one pipe supplying gtheir house and all the water inthe pipe is a mix of all that is supplied from multiple sources. Basically, how can it be demultiplexed so your payment goes only to the one supplier you chose. Even more difficult is that unlike electricity and telecomms, there is a waste product directly proportional to your water consumption and the cost of dealing with that must likewise be allocated to your chosen water supplier. The means of waste treatment and water supply don’t easily map to the same geographic area. With electronics and electricity the problem is relatively simple to solve by regional demarcation. It is more difficult with water. The supply can be metered but the waste can’t be metered, at least until after removal of solids and not all waste requires the same treatment. Who pays for that? Then the treated waste water doesn’t necessarily return to the fresh water supplier, How is the supplier compensated for their loss?
fair competition can be done only by making rather rough and ready assumptions or by governments using monetary measures to establish a level playing field.
Another obvious mechanism for establishing competitopn is that companies are contracted for only a limited time, 5 years, 10 years or whatever. But tyhe regional problem remains. one could argue that if you choose to live where it is more expensive for water to be supplied you should accet higher prices. But these days with electricity, gas and telecomms being almost universal people expect the price to be the same everywhere so why not water?
Anyway, competition can be established but I think many people find it harder to understand how it can be done fairly and with any great advantage than with electricty, gas and telecoms.
July 27, 2025
‘…. extra investment might be made by competing water companies?’
I don’t think so. Not fit for purpose anyway. People are bone idle. At every stage somebody would be looking to take a profit. There would be no effective oversight to prevent this. That’s modern Britain for you.
An article in the ‘New Statesman’ describes new ‘unadopted estates’ around Hitchin. They sound like what used to be known as jerry built properties.
‘ But even when new-build homes are sold with the freehold, hidden costs can sneak in. Known as “fleecehold” housing, the estates Strathern pointed out are those where the responsibility for maintaining the roads, street lighting, drainage and communal areas has not been adopted by the council, as it deems development not to have been completed to a high enough standard. Until a development is adopted, the residents must pay for the services the council would usually provide, in addition to council tax, via yearly fees paid to private management companies.’
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2025/07/who-is-accountable-in-privatised-britain
July 27, 2025
Morning Sir John,
I think the levels of private investment required to make the changes you moot, would be too costly, especially with the current government’s anti business policies.
I don’t think there is a water grid as such, that is comparable to our national electricity grid.
Energy costs would make desalination a non starter given that desalination is a very energy intensive process.
I think your suggestion regarding our canal network is a possibility but, I have noticed recently that many of the canals have had record low levels of water, which may well scupper your proposal.
Personally, I cannot see the need for drinking water to flush toilets nor to wash cars etc. Maybe some kind of water collection system in New build developments would be a practical solution in parts.
July 27, 2025
Actually, I would think de-salination would be a good application of renewables, as it could be near the landfall point of the windpower and I assume could cope with intermittancy. If the water was being used locally, then linking into the local supply should not be insurmountable. I do think the canal newtwork could be used to move volumes of water. Locks have side channels to take water down to the next level when it reches a certain level, an overflow if you will. Pumping water higher up into the system would look just look like heavy rainfall I would have thought.
July 28, 2025
I checked up the parameters of the Elan aqueduct supplying Birmingham. It has 2 x 42″ pipes and 2 x 63″ pipes and the water flows at s leisurely 2-3mph. A total cross section of about 6 sq m. If you emptied the usual and removed the locks you could probably replace with pipes. However, canals don’t go to lakes at their high end.
The Llangollen canal is fed from the Horseshoe Falls on the River Dee, which it soon crosses at the famous Pontcysyllte Viaduct built by Telford. The water flows into the Shropshire Union canals, and is used by what was the Mid & South East Cheshire Water Board for water supply. So it does happen on at least a limited scale.
July 27, 2025
The country has not invited in an extra 10m people, the governments and establishment have despite the people having clearly indicated they wanted it stopped.
Increased water and sewerage is solely a direct consequence of that unwelcome import and unlike electricity, gas and comms,does not add value for the ignored population.
So demanding we accept increased taxes, constraints, charges, foreign ownership and control of our consequentially overloaded infrastructure is not reasonable no matter how much the proposal is prettied up with words like “competition”.
July 27, 2025
+1
July 27, 2025
Risk appetite, I suggest zero. Egregiously expensive, massive barriers to entry, planning/infrastructure etc, political interference high, heavy regulation, ROCE modest.
Just look at the Alt Net experience with, in theory, far easier build out/existing ducting etc in place burning through capital and now when, not if, is consolidation forced through by market pressure (failure?) with write offs/downs.
July 27, 2025
Good morning.
There would be if there were very poor grain harvest. Stop comparing apples to oranges.
In answer to your list:
1. Not everywhere is suitable for this and, even if it were, the cost is quite high – see below.
2. Try getting that past environmentalists. If it were that easy, then we would have built loads years ago.
3. This is a very costly form of water generation that can only (just) be made economically viable with cheap energy. Something that this and previous governments have made sure we will never have. No company, unless massively subsidised, will invest in this loss maker, and no one in their right mind would pay for it.
4. As with reservoirs, environmentalists and especially nimbies will not have it.
5. A pipe is a pipe, modern or old.
6. Right ! I have worked on a number of Data Centres and can tell you that many of them are located close to areas where there is good water supply for cooling. Mostly around the Slough area. Why ? Because that was the site of a large ancient in-land sea and so the water table is very high. Even so, they had to dill down 100 metres to tap into it. It isn’t cheap but data centre companies can afford it, not Mr and Mrs. Average household.
7. Again. Run that past the environmentalists.
8. Canals need the water for themselves. They cannot, and will not, allow large amounts of water to be used in that way. Certainly not the volumes needed to be commercially viable.
9. This is already being done. Both in my back garden and in all new build apartment blocks.
10. This is sheer madness and shows Sir John that you have not properly thought things through. Sea water is highly corrosive especially when put under temperature. The metals / steel needed would have to be of an alloy type incorporating some rare earths. These make any pipework very expensive. I know a little about this as something similar (although not sea water) was used on circuit heating for an NHS Trust. They used different steels embedded in the ground which caused major problems dues to corrosion and the different expansion rates of the vary steels they used. The whole thing had to be ripped out.
I am against water being run as a monopoly whether it be private or as a nationalised industry. Why ? Because water is highly essential to life and good health. It is something people with little understanding who only see it as a profit and loss should reframe from commeting on until they actually accept that simple fact. We all can do without electricity (except Sakara Gold who needs it for his EV) but you will not last a week without potable water.
Reply You live in an unreal world. Sea water can be desalinated! I am glad you do agree water should not be a monopoly but why then oppose ways of having competition?
July 27, 2025
R to R
I never said that cannot be desalinated. I said “This is a very costly form of water generation . . . ”
That is not a sentence of denial of engineering but of economic viability.
I despise all monopolies hence why I suggested in a previous article a solution to it.
July 27, 2025
Yes. Desalination is a word thrown about without any real understanding. Takes massive amounts of energy so surely not viable in the UK., we can hardly provide for our normal needs.
It works where there is an abundance, Saudi for instance. Masses of solar and cheap oil.
July 27, 2025
I am surprised Sir John you don’t seem to appreciate the Engineering difference between baking a loaf of Bread and supplying Gas, Water, Electricity to the home.
You seem to be saying that it is Ofwat’s fault that the privately owned Water Industry did not invest more.
Not sure I see how the term monopoly has meaning here unless you mean I can’t have Loch water from Scotland coming out my tap in Wokingham and have no choice it has to come from South East Water.
Water supply and sewage are two different companies. Thames Water deals with sewage and not the water company.
But I see in theory you could have more water extraction and storage companies selling water. But you are stuck with the need to connect to a grid in order to sell your water.
But I am sure my highland Spring water will still not get to me having been diluted on its journey down from the Highlands.
Reply Competition allows you to buy bottles Highland spring to drink. brewer in our area might want to buy water from a new source/ supplier willing to out in a new pipe.nWhy stop them? Ofwat did limit investment in order to keep prices down. The Regulator makes a lot of the decisions
July 27, 2025
thank you Sir John for pointing out OFWat’s interference in water supply, and I guess the same goes for all the the other OF’s in their respective industries.
We seem to have ended up with the worst aspects of nationalisation and privatisation combined.
If we could some how run the utilities based on profit for the tax payer without political Interference that would be ideal. Some how incorporating public and private investment from UK based/owned sources only that would be great.
July 27, 2025
Plastic or glass bottles of branded water being shipped around the UK and the world is a huge waste of energy, effort and money. If Miliband really wanted to help the environment perhaps he should ban bottled water and make people drink tap water in refillable bottles or water fountains! Would make far more sense than his totally insane net zero religion!
July 27, 2025
Let’s correct one thing. The country hasn’t invited 10 million people in, Westminster has without any reference to the voters.
Now we’ve cleared that up I see you haven’t addressed my question from yesterday, who will be responsible for treating the effluent. Like many things what happens in the future say to redundant wind farms and solar farms. Who will be responsible for removing these carbuncle from the land and seascape.
Like with most privatisation the taxpayer ultimately picks up the bill.
Some things are strategic assets and can’t be left to market forces. Eg steel, water, railways and roads to name a few
Reply It wasn’t just governments. Businesses invited in workers, charities invited in asylum seekers, communities invited in Ukrainians and Hong Kongers etc
July 27, 2025
Well said, Ian on all points.
Government is responsible for the boarders and who is allowed in and who is not. It is that simple and it is there that responsibility lay.
July 27, 2025
Even our deluded net zero King thinks we have no borders between France and the UK! Though the seabed around the UK, out to 12 nautical miles, is apparently owned by The Crown Estate. So wind farms )or rather tax payer grant farming) can be a nice earner for some but a huge tax and energy bill for others!
July 27, 2025
Reply to reply.
Government allowed Business to invite in workers. Government allowed charities to invite in asylum seekers. Government allowed communities to invite in Ukrainians and Hong Kongers etc.
And Government encouraged and facilitated all the above. They could have blocked it; they chose not to.
July 27, 2025
+1 – they chose too while promising in serial manifestos to limit it to under 100,000. Not “we made mistakes” as the Tories now like to claim. It was intentional & serial fraud against the electorate!
July 27, 2025
+1
July 27, 2025
….and government choice to give them all benefits
July 27, 2025
The government opened our borders to all and sundry. As a byline I see the receiver has given only 3 weeks for the Lindsey refinery in Lincolnshire to be bought. Thus ensuring it will close. Considering it supplies Heathrow and the RAF with aviation fuel how can this happen.
No doubt Milibrain will be in captures over another loss of technical well paid jobs as we import said fuel from abroad. Nothing for the exchequer and a drain on currency reserves.
Well done Net Stupid.
July 27, 2025
Today we are Importing 26% of our electricity at £97 mwh when we can generate for £42 mwh. We are literally subsidising foreign governments buying their power.
July 27, 2025
Spot on Ian
July 27, 2025
This country didn’t invite in an extra 10 million people this century: the Westminster Uni-Party did, against the wishes of a majority of the British people.
I think the country is over-populated and rather than dream up ways to try and supply more water, I’d rather we reduced the population by encouraging a large number of the less desirable more recent arrivals to go back to their homeland … with a financial incentive, if necessary.
July 27, 2025
@Donna
We did that with Brexit. All the highly skilled Polish tradespeople went home in disgust. So did the Belgian diamond cutters, The French chocolatiers, the Italians, the Czecks, the Dutch etc. skilled workers They are being replaced with Somali tribesmen in loincloths, Africans needing a free NHS kidney and Pakistani child molesters.
Be careful what you wish for
July 27, 2025
Very odd that you say SG that all Polish people have left the UK in disgust, when a 2024 survey estimated over 500,000 were still here.
You seem to be making things up.
July 27, 2025
6 million EU citizens (double the Government’s estimate) decided to stay in the UK.
The more recent arrivals from the 3rd world are generally unskilled and virtually unemployable, which is why so many of them are claiming welfare.
July 27, 2025
+1 – they rather rapidly work out that they are better off not working and will almost never get a job paid enough after tax to make work pay for them?
July 27, 2025
SG:
Many Polish people have gone back home because for them Poland is now a better place to live than the U.K.. Not least because they don’t have massive legal and illegal immigration destroying their culture and overloading the infrastructure and services.
July 28, 2025
Indeed – electricity prices in Poland are about 1/3 of the UKs too as they have not fallen for the mad Cameron, May, Boris, Sunak, Miliband, Kemi devil gas religion! Economic growth in Poland is expected to exceed 3% this year!
July 27, 2025
SG
Afraid many of the people type you describe arrived and also left during our time within the EU.
Now those with Money are also leaving due to Government tax policies.
July 28, 2025
This with money and or skills and ambition.
July 27, 2025
+1
July 27, 2025
‘This country has invited in an extra 10m people this century. ‘
Invited? In what way have we invited? Governments did the ‘inviting’ the population didn’t want it. Previous terrible blind decisions to ease rules on immigration have enabled hordes to come, whether seeking refuge, economic prosperity or the range of western world benefits – medicare, housing, food, justice systems etc.
Reply Governments invited by granting visas, companies by offering jobs, landlords by providing homes etc
July 27, 2025
reply to reply…I agree but the population didn’t do ANY inviting. Governments unwisely did the inviting – the companies took advantage (if you think so) and landlords merely found there was profit from bigger rental market arising!
July 27, 2025
The numerous groups of personnel involved which fix leaks need to be more efficient and more simply organised.
From decisions on which leak report get priority, to the first assessment visit which starts a series of barrier erecting / traffic light installing, hole digging, further inspection, repair/replacement team visit, hole filling, possible tarmacing – even traffic light removal.
The whole process divided up into too many groups, too many decisions and delays on next steps….while the leak and locality disturbance goes on.
July 27, 2025
Although drinking water quality in England was excellent, a major soft drink corporation maintained its own standards internationally. Consequently, it stipulated that every bottle of its branded drink in the world flowed through its own rigorous process.
In the 1960s the factory manager showed a new employee around the works. Their walk proceeded around the perimeter of the input reservoir, and the manager stopped, held on the railings, and urinated in the vat as a demonstration of quality assurance, inviting the new employee to join him.
It certainly made the point, and this might have been some kind of unofficial standard practice then but may not be allowed today.
July 27, 2025
Sir JR. I think you’ve exhausted this subject. You’ve heard our varying opinions. And nothing will change anyway, certainly not under this shambles of a government. They would rather give money away to other countries than invest in the UK.
July 27, 2025
1. Boreholes are widely used but with care. They can lead to subsidence, affect other boreholes and be over used. Strong regulation needed – which brings us back to the beginning.
2. Reservoirs are big and either occupy housing land or amenity land. Endless political whining about planning etc. Politicians with guts needed.
3. Huge energy requirement, gas, oil, solar, atomic. none of which we have.
4. Big and no one wants one nearby. Endless political wrangling over where. Politicians with guts needed.
5. Modern pipes are no better than Victorian pipes and will still need replacement which costs money. Back to today’s problem.
6. Datacentres use so much water because they simply pour heated water down the drain. Force them to use efficient water-air heat exchangers. Big and expensive so they will whine and threaten to go elsewhere.
7. Ha Ha Ha, we can’t manage the management and regulation now!
8. Canals are generally static water, they don’t flow. You are welcome to rip out the locks etc but the boaties might object.
9. Rainwater collects piddling amounts. Big cost to separate loo water from potable and likely endless practical problems. Have you hired a plumber recently?
10. Seawater is nasty corrosive stuff full of sand and shrimps. Not for computers etc. See 6. Needs VERY expensive heat exchangers for anything other than rough industrial processes.
July 27, 2025
About one third of a household’s water is used for toilet flushing.
A simple rain downpipe adaptation could assist savings efficiently.
July 27, 2025
Should we be inviting loo flushers to pee in the garden – cut out the middle ‘man’?
July 27, 2025
Supposed to be good for compost?…
July 27, 2025
Hydrologic cycle ie the life cycle of water
July 27, 2025
Reservoirs might be a good choice to place on flood plains, if only it wasn’t the policy to build houses liable to flooding there instead.
July 27, 2025
I support you and your idea for canals to move water. Also included rivers pumps and pipes to create a national grid for water. This idea was put forward a number of years back but no action be it private or public money. Being a fisherman I don’t agree with boreholes as they have a effect on chalk streams
July 27, 2025
I don’t think we need a full national water grid. There is ample water in many places of high rainfall and many times floods. The water needs to go where it is needed, in the over populated south and particularly East Anglia. I don’t think we need supply additional water so Scotland or the Lake District for example, or even the South West. Should make the thing a whole lot easier and cheaper to do this more modest proposal. Won’t get done of course, no profit in it, just like providing mobile phone signals to some parts, like mine unless the inhabitants want to cough up twenty grand each for the privilege of helping out the giant companies.
July 27, 2025
The Home Office has decided to double down on warranted police officers working from home, trawling through social media looking for people to nick. A new unit, made up of “specialist” officers will be monitoring social media for anti-migrant posts. Unbelievable!
What idiocy is this? Clearly, the great British public has had enough of migrant rapists being housed in nice hotels on benefits. The Pakistani rape gangs have been molesting our children for decades with the connivance of the police, councils and social workers. Little wonder the public has had enough and wishes to exercise their constitutional right to protest
The public wants police in helmets back on the beat, deterring crime, catching burglars and shoplifters. And clearly, a significant number of people want an end to immigration and are prepared to protest their views.
July 27, 2025
You’re making the mistake of thinking that the Government is working in the interests of ordinary British people, or even WANTS to.
July 27, 2025
SG
Agreed, but much safer for the Police to sit at home on a computer, than to actually go out and fight real crime, even if it was to capture a few shoplifters.
Just like the speed, box junction, bus lane, parking camera’s, automatic prosecution for perhaps minor transgressions, just to bring in revenue.
July 27, 2025
Water companies invest? You must surely be joking, Sir John.
July 27, 2025
All those shareholders abroad turning in their luxury surroundings from dividends !
July 27, 2025
In a very simplistic view… yes there’s way more people, but the water companies have not been doing their jobs properly for decades. Where are the extra reservoirs, why aren’t the leaks being dealt with?
All this has played into the WEF’s idea of concentrating on water – lack of water; as the next fear mongering!
July 27, 2025
Sharon, whilst I understand your arguments and frustration, the Water Companies have been trying to get Planning for the proposed Abingdon Reservoir for over 20 years, and have been constantly frustrated by the public with countless objections.
Will happily agree with you about leaks.
July 27, 2025
As I said yesterday Sir John, the difficulty with privatised utilities s not the efficacy of private ownership per se. The issue is the scale of regulation and those engaged in ever more draconian legislation of those utilities robbing them of management and profitable decisions.
Who in their right mind would want to invest in a controlled activity that is prevented from securing its profitability by state instruction to provide free service to those the state determines are exempted from paying?
July 27, 2025
In my opinion the main issue with the water companies is management and regulator specific. I do believe the existing model would have worked if it was not for the deficient management and the irresponsible regulator. I agree intensifying water industry competition and thus removing the water company monopolies would likely improve outcomes a lot.
We just need the right water companies in the right number and a disciplined regulator and the water industry would get back on track.
It’s worth noting water as a commodity has become increasingly popular for investors in recent years so there is an ocean of capital available too (no pun intended!). Therefore the British taxpayers contribution should be minimized.
July 27, 2025
Sir John
While I see some of your suggestions being able to work for new build.
The immoveable bit for now is that the water companies ‘own’ , what could be termed the grid. They own and control the services ‘in’, the water, and the services out, the ‘sewerage’. The cost that would be demanded to release that structure based on seemingly cartel assumed captive ownership would be that enormous no Government would risk changing the status.
The idea of some sort of ‘grid’ sounds OK but then who owns the grid and how do you get competition into the grid? The electricity and gas grids don’t have competition and their so-called fixed charges to the consumer via the facilitator rise exponentially each year
You site broadband as an example, the grid for the greater majority is owned by BT/Openworld. Although other facilitators get to piggyback on the system, BT ‘dictates’ in a big way ever increasing prices each April regardless of rising costs – there is no correlation. The fixed charge will rise, because of lack of competition. All the people they allow to use the grid must charge their customers more on that date, that is not competition. In a small, a very small, way other operators are getting to move in, so there is hope for the future.
The real lesson to be learned is Nationalisation in the first instance was bad, then government involvement in running things is bad, the to rub salt into every taxpayers costs & wounds that everything they had paid hard earned money for is taken from them and is close as possible given away so they can be fleeced again.
I would suggest there needs to a multitude, not one, option. Thames is a big concern there very existence and attitude is anti consumer, even anti business and investment. With 16million customers that is dangerous and as a monopoly it needed breaking up by Law. The Government did that with BT and Cable&Wireless so why not Water. The chunks of the operations need to be manageable, and not their size being used to Blackmail.
July 27, 2025
Another suggestion, as to be avoided is just ‘one mode’, is some of the facilities should fall into consumer ownership. The relationship here is the ‘Condo’ or Condominium, not common in the UK but widely used in the USA. The individuals as they are the users are the owners, they then sort out how the facilities are managed. Governments in the UK find it hard to believe that things can be done better by those at the front end.
There are many objectives with any system, you site(in fact most of us do) competition, I would suggest it is just important to avoid monoliths, governments, any large entity and having things were possible consumer driven before anything else. Just as with everything around us the only one that pays anyone’s bills is the ‘consumer’ without them everything is dead in the water. The consumer doesn’t want to be dictated to, they want the choice, the right to choose. State control is just Communism, the State owns you and everything that’s the opposite to human nature, were is is the creativity and individuals that ’cause’ advancement and growth
July 27, 2025
Dear IanB, Welsh Water is this sort of not-for-profit enterprise but its record on untreated sewage outflows is not obviously better than the companies. Much the same, I think, for publicly owned Scottish Water.
July 27, 2025
Afraid not a lot of confidence I am afraid John.
How is the competitive industries of electricity, gas, railways, and the present Water system going ?
We have almost the most expensive electricity, gas, and railways in the World, are they any good. ?
The problem is partly due to the Regulation that has been put in place, but shareholder investment returns/greed is also a reason/problem.
The very basics of life I believe should be Government run in theory, but all Governments seem to fail on choosing the right management, fail on investment, fail on regulation.
I honestly do not know where we go from here, other than to elect competent members of Parliament. (unlikely) !
Reply Main cause of dear energy is government insistence on renewables overriding market
July 27, 2025
Reply-reply
Would agree with that, but it goes much further.
Net Zero has only been around for a small number of years, all those that I mention above have had decades of problems.
July 27, 2025
reply to reply ….and the failure of policy to invest years ago in nuclear.
July 27, 2025
Without knowing the technical details of water supply I agree in principle with Sir John Redwood that competition would be good as monopoly and captive customers are a recipe (given human nature) for inherent complacency and inefficiency.
July 27, 2025
Why does it have to be competition in private companies?
We have sovereignty over our bank account. No one tells us we can’t buy a four bed detached house, rather than an adequate 1 bed flat because it would be more economical.
The best answer to my mind is a mutual water company, owned by the customers. They will then have the problem of raising finance, and if the supply fails only themselves to blame.
The problem is how to get there, when the infrastructure is owned by over-leveraged private companies.
July 27, 2025
DA
Be careful, the Government (HMRC) can now look at anyones Bank Account, and it has the power to remove money from it if they think they have good reason !
July 27, 2025
I note your disappointment over respondents’ attitudes to more competition in the water industry, but I think this is due more to difficulty in understanding how it might work in practice, rather than dislike of competition, in most cases anyway.
For myself, it is much easier to understand in an industrial and commercial context, or for a whole housing development, rather than by individual residence, particularly because of the connected need for waste disposal which is mentioned above.
No one should forget that a good many of today’s problems in the Water industry, remain the result of the years of zero investment under nationalisation.
Reply Quite a lot of homes do not get provided a mains sewer and use private sector services for disposal.
July 27, 2025
I can relate to that Sir John and have gone one step further. I have put a flushing lavatory in our woodland area. It utilises rain water collected from the toilet roof for flushing and issues to a simple part gravel filed sump that drains into the woodland soil. The trees benefit from the nutrients they receive and the small pit is dug out every ten years. The clean compost that is dug out has no odour and is as close to perfect compost consistency as it gets. The volume is tiny less than fifty kg. Now that is what a true environmentalist can do, as opposed to the fake green gang that bully us on such a regular basis.
July 27, 2025
Reply
Indeed a family member has owned two homes with a cess pit, their current home has one that has been replaced with an upgraded version (no mains drainage nearby) !
Few people aware that new regulations were put in place a few years ago for such systems.
July 28, 2025
There are two parts to sewerage: the drains, pumps and pipes (consumers are responsible for the connection between their property and the street, which is probably as well, since you can get competitive quotes and fast action for repairs, unlike the street main, where although you may not have to pay you may have a wait unless the problem is major), and the sewage works and return of water to supply or the environment. Most sewerage works (except for the largest cities) are relatively local.
Water companies already do assess sewerage on a rough likely volume basis. For example there can be a lower charge if grey or rain water is used for your garden. For larger customers (e.g. a process plant) it is possible to meter, and they may have responsibilities to treat the water at least to some degree.
It is not too difficult to see ways to extend competition for drain and sewer monitoring and maintenance. Monitoring technology is now much more sophisticated with cameras and sensors. It could become quite localised, with potentially larger bills mutualised through insurance (which might be a good way to evaluate the economics of monitoring and preventative maintenance). Your home insurance may cover your own responsibility already. Contractors would compete for jobs and some may specialise in particular kinds of operation: consumers might even get some input with preference for those that repair dug up roads best for example.
The management of sewerage works could be done on a multi year contract basis with potentially much greater competition for contracts. Again it would be possible to tailor contracts to handle local concerns e.g. to reduce smells, or avoid overflows etc., and also ensure that if extra provision is needed for new housing the issue isn’t buried in some remote head office. Whilst there would still be overall national minimum standards, local people could end up with more input into what matters to them, and what they are prepared to pay for. The reputation of firms managing more and less well would see the better ones expand and the less good not secure contracts.
Only the large denser cities would still be mainly centralised for provision, but even there some elements of competition could be introduced.
July 27, 2025
All very good suggestions Sir John, but why did you not do any of it when you were in power? We have had hose pipe bans since I was a boy in dry summers so that was not unknown, even with a smaller population. I still think what I said yesterday, effectively out of sight out of mind with so many other exciting hare brained schemes to fund rather than doing the dreary job of providing adequately for the paying public. That still holds today.
Reply I tried. I did get agreement on cross border competition with inset agreements. There is competition to supply large users in Scotland
July 27, 2025
Thank you.
July 27, 2025
Hosepipe bans save the water companies a lot of money. Summer water costs them far more but they get no more per litre delivered. Far cheaper for them to save water with hosepipe bans than it is to build more storage and pumping facilities.
July 27, 2025
“This country has invited in an extra 10 m people this century.”
I think it’s far more than 10 million. I travelled on the train yesterday and I was the only white English-speaking person in my carriage. When I look around our towns and cities, I’m beginning to feel like an ethnic minority. I don’t think our government has a clue as to how many people are living in this country and the resources that will be required to support our ever-growing population. Going forward, expect power outages, food shortages, and water restrictions. We are governed by fools!
July 27, 2025
122 criminals were illicitly shipped, into the UK yesterday on the 26th July from France……
July 27, 2025
How come GB news can find traffic smugglers but not the and French governments? Why are the “charities” allowed to assist these criminals to cross the Channel? Is it not a crime to assist a crime?
July 27, 2025
Ownership and control of critical national infrastructure should not be in the hands of foreign investors. My view…
July 28, 2025
To achieve that we need a healthy economy preferably with a trade surplus so we don’t have to keep selling things to pay our import bills.
July 27, 2025
What about stopping mass immigration so our water and sewage infrastructure can catch up and stop being permanently overloaded?
July 27, 2025
Bread has gone up hugely in price too. I don’t see the argument here. We all still get water, at a much higher price.
“We invited 10 million people here.” No. We didn’t invite them. We even left the EU to stop it from happening. It has now become a fully fledged invasion and in a few months time we will be unable to criticise it in a certain way.
July 27, 2025
john, just join reform and help them formulate their economic policies. they have already won the next election, the biggest risk the country has then is them not having joined up policies which fix the country. the Labour government are already dead, and the financial markets could pull the plug on them any day.
equally likely is that the upset public rebelling every day forces another election, the cannot arrest us all for carrying English flags and equally silly charges, who do they think they are kidding.
and to anyone in the state, or their contractors, monitoring this post for compliance to the online safety act… get stuffed.
Reform can see my economic proposals on this website if they wish. They have never wanted to talk about them and have clearly gone in a different direction, wanting higher welfare spending and more nationalisation which I disagree with.
July 27, 2025
then join Rupert Lowe and fight for something new
July 27, 2025
tata are going to be making big redundancies in the US soon, and probably the UK too. the model of cheap low quality workers from India is under a lot of pressure.
I am prepared to bet it is mostly white people made redundant and not the Indian heritage workers.
July 27, 2025
Dear Sir John, occasionally you are wrong and competition cannot work. My house in Suffolk and its 10 scattered neighbours, for instance, had no piped gas, water or sewerage because, although we would have loved the competition, it was uneconomical for anyone to invest in the 6-800 meters of pipework.
Experience also suggests that it is generally unprofitable to build new passive infrastructure that merely duplicates existing networks with sunk costs. The alternative broadband cabling made a loss for its investors. And both the Birmingham Expressway and (somewhat differently) the Channel Tunnel ended up owned by the lending banks. Any hope for taxpayers money in HS2?
In areas with plentiful rainfall, serious competition in drinking water would be possible if it was deemed homogenous like electricity, allowing for a common carrier like National Grid/Transco. That is a point you would have to argue.
But drinking water is a bit of a sideshow to sewerage, by far the top priority today. Even with common carriage, I cannot see entrepreneurs queuing up to build new sewage treatment plants to undercut the regional monopolies.
Your principle is fundamentally correct. Free markets work better because the more people make decisions, the greater chance that some will be right – and they will win out. Ofwat alone ultimately makes investment decisions for the regulated monopolies on a value-for-money test and over the past decade has failed to accommodate a 10 % rise in population and climate change.
We know that 15 years of nationalisation failed, in part because water was tail-end Charlie for public investment.
Even Nicholas Ridley, no friend of monopoly, did not imagine that competition would help solve the problems.
His compromise regime of “competition by comparison” and balanced incentives brought unprecedented investment, much greater efficiency, rivers cleaner than for centuries and many blue-flag beaches.
Over the past decade or so, however, weaker regulators have succumbed to the constant government pressure to keep prices down. Perhaps combining environmental and financial regulation will help.
What has not helped is a free market in water companies, which has lead to several being owned by anonymous private groups whose agendas can be inimical to the interests of managers, customers and the natural world. There are exceptions to the rule that competition is always best.
Reply Your argument that competition cannot work means removing the monopoly would not change things, so no problems and no wins. So lets do it and find out who is right.
July 28, 2025
You are lucky enough to have lots of competition for supply – for oil or propane gas for heating, and firms to deal with your water and sewerage. It may well be that in chatting with your neighbours you tend to choose firms with a better local reputation and you can always ask for quotes to ensure you are getting a reasonable price. In practice you may find the least real competition in electricity although you are grid connected – thanks to OFGEM.
July 28, 2025
Hi sir john
Would it be possible to direct the water in the winter when our rivers are flooding home’s and roads to the reservoirs . To fill them up having more mater to supply the farmers in times of drought.
Thank you
Reply. Yes that is what I often ask them to do!
July 29, 2025
Dear Sir John
I agree with this and more or less everything you say about nationalisation, taxation and the economy in general. You are a beacon of enlightenment on these issues.
But nobody is perfect and even very smart people have some stupid ideas. You are no exception. Let me explain that by pasting in a comment I posted on the Spectator website:
>>>>>>>>>
“It is hard to argue with it” {Trump’s “point”).
No it isn’t. I’ll argue with it. As a chemist (I am also a mathematician, so I can do the “sums”) I am appalled that we (collectively in the whole world) are still burning up all the precious chemical feedstock that is stored underground to be kept (should be) for the future of our chemical industry (paint, plastics, pharmaceuticals and even cars and aircraft). It is completely insane to just burn it up, as we are doing.
The objections that “there is not enough sunlight” (modern solar cells can work in diffuse light) or “the wind doesn’t blow always” (bullshit: as an aviator I have never had to ignore the effect of wind on my aerial navigation.) are false.
One day, when we have sorted out the corrosion and barnacle problems, there will be abundant wave power, as much as we want and for ever.
Get real.