In 2023, Thames Water paid its shareholders £230 for every hour it dumped sewage.

• This "profit from pollution" rate is based on Thames Water polluting for 196,414 hours and paying out £45.2m in dividends.
• The company's owners include the governments of Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, and China as well as a Canadian pension scheme and a UK universities pension scheme (USS).
• Thames Water has paid out a total of £10.4 billion in dividends since privatisation in 1989.
• Its debts have reached £14.7 billion. It was privatised with no debts.
• 28% of your bill is spent servicing Thames Water's debts.

Privatisation VS Public Ownership

• England and Wales are the only countries to have fully privatised water and sewerage systems.
• Our bills have gone up by 40% in real terms since privatisation.
• Publicly owned Scottish Water has spent 35% more than the English water companies. If England had done the same an extra £28 billion would have been invested in sewage and leak prevention.
• Public ownership can make water companies more accountable. Paris Water has bill payers and sewage campaigners on its board, alongside water workers and elected councillors. In the Netherlands, water companies have to publish data on their performance

Read more at our dedicated water policy page here: https://weownit.org.uk/public-ownership/water