You won't surprised that it now seems the water companies have been hiding the effects of under investment in waste water treatment - both in the sense of offering misleading data to OFWAT & in failing to maintain & upgrade water treatment infrastructure.
This emphasises that England's sewage crisis is not an accident of weather or technological issues, but rather has been engineered to maintain profits.
The case for (re)nationalisation get stronger by the day
#water
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/20/dirty-secret-insiders-say-uk-water-firms-knowingly-breaking-sewage-laws
As with the post office they get away with everything, know they will get away with it and therefore act with impunity.
Indeed, Thames water apparently wants to raise bills 50%
@zleap @ChrisMayLA6 And, if they do get fined, it won't be the company or shareholders paying the fine. It will be us!