Helvede

The Japan TimesOver 20% of water pipes across Japan have exceeded their legal service life of 40 years, but many municipalities are struggling to deal with the matter. <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/04/28/japan/outdated-water-pipes/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/04/28/japan/outdated-water-pipes/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/japan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#japan</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/water" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#water</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/saitama" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#saitama</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/yashio" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#yashio</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/disasterpreparedness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#disasterpreparedness</a>

Jules 🍺Looking at the latest water company scandals <a href="https://youtu.be/wdjzJ9dCxnc?si=qI2NsmFDpOOnpk0h" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/wdjzJ9dCxnc?si=qI2NsmFDpOOnpk0h</a> <a href="https://mastodon.me.uk/tags/watercompanies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#watercompanies</a> <a href="https://mastodon.me.uk/tags/watercompany" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#watercompany</a> <a href="https://mastodon.me.uk/tags/watercompanycrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#watercompanycrisis</a> <a href="https://mastodon.me.uk/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> <a href="https://mastodon.me.uk/tags/SewageScandal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SewageScandal</a>

Emeritus Prof Christopher MayAs you will recall, Private Equity giant KKR (they of Barbarians at the Gate fame), has become the preferred bidder for Thames Water.... and so keen are Thames Water to keep their cash cow out of the hands of the state they are paying a substantial proportion of the costs of the KKR team undertaking some extensive due diligence ahead of any formal bid.No conflicts of interest there, I'm sure....<a href="https://zirk.us/tags/ThamesWater" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ThamesWater</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/water" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#water</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/PrivateEquity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PrivateEquity</a> h/t FT

Emeritus Prof Christopher MayYou'll be unsurprised to know that while the Government review of the water & sewage sector has OFWAT in its sights for possible abolition & replacement, the National Audit Office has concluded the the regulators responsible for overseeing the water sector lack a 'good understanding' of the assets & sector they are intended to regulate...Its a classic example of how corporate capture of regulators leads to 'learned helplessness' then post-privatisation water regulation.<a href="https://zirk.us/tags/water" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#water</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> h/t FT

Emeritus Prof Christopher MayThames Water claims that the costs of upgrading & repairing sewage plants has risen by around ten times in the last four years... as a defence for why the work is taking so long.Rather than being an issue of inflation & UK-related costs, it would seem more likely that maintenance costs (and liabilities) were previously massively under-stated to 'allow' for the draining of cash from the business while not catching OFTWAT's (albeit myopic) attention!Its corruption!<a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Water" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Water</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> h/t FT

molilyThe second episode on Swiss <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> treatment plants which manage to filter 80% of micropollutants with activated charcoal. This is a matter of political will, cost and public infrastructure being in public hands.Still, substances like <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/PFAS" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PFAS</a> cannot be removed this way – they need to be prohibited.<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2025/apr/10/streams-of-medicines-how-switzerland-cleaned-up-its-act-podcast" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2025/apr/10/streams-of-medicines-how-switzerland-cleaned-up-its-act-podcast</a>Related article:<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/27/amr-drug-resistance-england-national-parks-hidden-hazards-rivers-pollution-aoe" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/27/amr-drug-resistance-england-national-parks-hidden-hazards-rivers-pollution-aoe</a><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Water" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Water</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Pollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Pollution</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Pharmaceuticals" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Pharmaceuticals</a>

Lazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈We went Brexit, which 'liberated' the Water Companies from European rules and now the Boat Race becomes more about dodging the biological and physical hazards in the water than beating the other team. We can have nice things or we can surrender to Fascism and Gangsters. <a href="https://www.mylondon.news/whats-on/whats-on-news/state-river-thames-delays-boat-31414665" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.mylondon.news/whats-on/whats-on-news/state-river-thames-delays-boat-31414665</a><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/London" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#London</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Thames" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Thames</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Brexit" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Brexit</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Sewage</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/BoatRace" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoatRace</a>

NonilexHundreds of people swept up in the <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Trump</a> admin’s crackdown on <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/immigration" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#immigration</a> are being kept at <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/overcrowded" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#overcrowded</a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Krome" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Krome</a> detention in <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Miami" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Miami</a>, sleeping on cement floors amid the stench of body odor & raw <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> – conditions that lawyers, families & fmr detainees call <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/inhumane" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#inhumane</a>. One woman…said she & fellow detainees were left in <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/shackles" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#shackles</a> & <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/chains" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#chains</a> on buses overnight, so long that some urinated on themselves. She said she was put in a cell w/ ~30 women before she was deported.<a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article302968939.html#storylink=cpy" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article302968939.html#storylink=cpy</a>

Kim Spence-Jones 🇬🇧😷Today I realised that the damage Trump is so visibly doing to America in just a few weeks is not that different from the damage successive governments have done to the UK. It’s just that the UK has been damaged over decades, and (with the possible exception of <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Brexit" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Brexit</a>) nobody seems to notice or care. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/UKPolitics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#UKPolitics</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/NHS" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NHS</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Sewage</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/CourtDelays" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#CourtDelays</a>

Emeritus Prof Christopher MayIts official; OFWAT cannot do its job:A new report from DEFRA concludes that 'there appear to be limited mechanisms for directly checking what has actually been delivered [against water company's plans]...This has raised questions over whether money from customer bills has been used to deliver what was set out in the business plans agreed by Ofwat'!Now the Q. is whether OFWAT is unable to do its job because it was set up to fail, or because it been unwilling to try?<a href="https://zirk.us/tags/water" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#water</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> h/t FT

Emeritus Prof Christopher MaySo Thames Water has been allowed buy the Court to access the rescue loan organised by its largest creditors.... but that loan is at a stinging 9.75% interest rate.Now, knowing as we do that interest is the cost of risk, we can see two things; the loan is structured with a high(er) risk of non-repayment than your mortgage....and, while TW staying in the private sector it can still be drained of cash by its (so-called) investors.<a href="https://zirk.us/tags/water" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#water</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/ThamesWater" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ThamesWater</a> h/t FT

Emeritus Prof Christopher MayWhat's coming up in the continuing saga of the chaotic 'reorganisation' of Thames Water, courtesy of the Financial Times... culminating, if things don't go TW;s way with the money running out on March 24th!enjoy<a href="https://zirk.us/tags/ThamesWater" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ThamesWater</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/water" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#water</a>

San Francisco BaykeeperSF dumps millions of gallons of sewage during big storms -- not cool, guys!! 💩 ⛈️ ☔️As our executive director Sejal Choksi-Chugh told KQED, discharge areas are sacrifice zones where the city has nowhere else to release polluted water."They're not allowed to be discharging this much bacteria and pollution into the Bay, yet they are doing it."<a href="https://www.kqed.org/science/1996145/sf-dumps-millions-of-gallons-of-sewage-during-big-storms-surfers-say-that-needs-to-stop" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.kqed.org/science/1996145/sf-dumps-millions-of-gallons-of-sewage-during-big-storms-surfers-say-that-needs-to-stop</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/sanfrancisco" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sanfrancisco</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/sfpuc" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sfpuc</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/sewagepollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewagepollution</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/sfbay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sfbay</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/sanfraciscobay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sanfraciscobay</a>

Emeritus Prof Christopher MayMore detail on the failure(s) of Thames Water: only around a third (possibly less) of its sewage processing plants have the infrastructure in place to deal with the demand for sewage throughput in their local area.Once again, as we get expect given the choice between paying investor dividends or actually delivering the services they are (supposed) obliged to, the investors won out... all while OFWAT has been asleep at the wheel.Nationalisation beckons?<a href="https://zirk.us/tags/water" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#water</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/ThamesWater" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ThamesWater</a> h/t FT

Emeritus Prof Christopher MayIts not just investors draining Thames Water of funds; TW is spending £15mn a month on advisors & consultants (on restructuring), most of whom are lawyers.Overall cost of 'saving' TW is projected to reach around £200mn in 2025.One might conclude, that this second bite of the cherry (the first being the dividends paid out instead of investing in infrastructure) mean TW's bills are a direct transfer to the rich from its customers!Professional welfare?<a href="https://zirk.us/tags/water" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#water</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/inequality" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#inequality</a> h/t FT

San Francisco BaykeeperOur field investigator captured footage today showing SFPUC's sluice gates once again overflowing--releasing feces, trash & other pollution directly into Mission Creek and SF Bay 😠 This is why we're taking legal action to get SFPUC to clean up its act: <a href="https://baykeeper.org/press_release/san-francisco-caught-dumping-millions-of-gallons-of-sewage-into-sf-bay-every-year/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://baykeeper.org/press_release/san-francisco-caught-dumping-millions-of-gallons-of-sewage-into-sf-bay-every-year/</a><a href="https://sfba.social/tags/sfpuc" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sfpuc</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/sanfrancisco" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sanfrancisco</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/bayarea" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#bayarea</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/pollution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#pollution</a> <a href="https://sfba.social/tags/missioncreek" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#missioncreek</a>

Emeritus Prof Christopher MayThe failure of water privatisation & its subsequent regulation is ever more apparent!Having drained the water companies of capital via dividends & executive pay, the water companies have now got the supine OFWAT to agree to an average 26% water bill increase this year, the largest since privatisation, to fix the very problems caused by the investors draining the firms of cash;OFWAT has been well & truly captured by the industry it purports to regulate!<a href="https://zirk.us/tags/water" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#water</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/privatisation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#privatisation</a> h/t FT

René SeindalVenice getting its sh*t together — literally.<a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Venice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Venice</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Venezia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Venezia</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Sewage</a>

Richard JonesReviews of my <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/book" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#book</a> proposal are in. One thing that divided opinion was my working <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/title" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#title</a>: ‘Fetid Drippings: Sewage Farming in Victorian and Edwardian Britain’. Reviewer #1 opined ‘Don’t care for it, but don’t have an alternative’. Reviewer #2 remarked ‘Certainly eye-catching!’ The reference is to Victor Hugo’s ‘Les Misérables’ (see photo for full <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/quote" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#quote</a>). So my friends, have your say. <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/Love" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Love</a> it? <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/Hate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Hate</a> it? Or try something else? And a seriously cheeky fourth option! <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/History" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#History</a> <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/Farming" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Farming</a> <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/Sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Sewage</a>

Emeritus Prof Christopher MayIt looks like the Office for Environmental Protection has confirmed what many have suspected; alongside the water companies themselves the expanding crisis in water contamination (by sewage) across England has been worsened by lax & ineffective regulation by DEFRA, OFWAT & the Environment Agency.Now all three may be taken to court for breaking the law by not constraining the water firms sufficiently.Lets hope these cases now proceed! <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/water" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#water</a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/sewage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sewage</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/17/watchdog-warns-defra-ofwat-environment-agency-court-sewage-dumping-law" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/17/watchdog-warns-defra-ofwat-environment-agency-court-sewage-dumping-law</a>

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