Thames Water, Anglian Water Facing 53 Separate Criminal Cases Over Illegal Sewage Dumping
Two of Britain’s biggest water companies, Thames Water and Anglian Water, face more than 50 criminal investigations between them as part of a crackdown on sewage dumping, the government has said. The utilities were subject to the bulk of a record 81 investigations into water companies between last July’s general election and March 2025, according to new data.
New powers to claw back the costs of the Environment Agency investigations will be used, meaning the “polluter will pay”, sources told the Guardian. This could prove very costly for Thames, the heavily indebted supplier that topped the charts of active investigations at 31 and will probably have to fund the majority of them.
Britain’s biggest water company, which recently came within five weeks of running out of funds, attempted to persuade the water regulator to let it off hundreds of millions of pounds of fines. Significant further costs could risk tipping it into a special administration, a form of nationalisation.
Thames Water is rushing to find a buyer willing to inject cash as it teeters on the brink of temporary nationalisation. The company, which has 16 million customers and 8,000 employees, is labouring under £20bn of debt. The US private equity firm KKR, which hopes to acquire a £4bn stake, is the last option for Thames Water as it scrambles to find a buyer by the end of June. Anglian Water has faced 22 investigations since last July.
Ed. - Yes, I'm sure that acquisition by a private equity will solve the problems . . . 
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/may/20/water-companies-investigations-thames-anglian-sewage-dumping