Once the water companies were privatised, they took out massive loans and performed no maintenance. The loans were purely to pay shareholder dividends. Now they're loaded down with debt.

Atop this, that crumbling infrastructure can't handle the increased water flow that's due to rainfall increases. So there's been a general trend of dumping raw sewage into rivers (the fines are cheaper op ex than the capex needed to fix the situation).

It's parasitic capitalism at its finest.