• HELLO here we are again, politicians moaning about Thames Water.

As we seem to be content with living in a capitalist society, why don’t they use the possible tools to better effect and make a change?

It is beyond my comprehension why everyone does not have a water meter. The only way you can get a grip on something is to measure it.

The path to everyone having a water meter is strewn with obstacles; large families will object, politicians will quiver, and water companies will find excuses for example, hard to engineer or cannot go on someone else’s land, etc.

Of course, never knowing how much water you really lose between the last point of metering and the point of use has nothing to do with it.

It is no use stating the blooming obvious that companies should invest more, as the debate could go on forever. Companies are duty bound to line the pockets of those they serve and hide profits from the tax man.

No new reservoir has been built for something like 40 years so how are farmers going to irrigate the land next year or shall we just keep arguing when no one is doing anything “wrong”?

Politicians, forget about the tribalism of public versus private ownership, you sound like Richard Osley on the back page.

The reputation of British mismanagement is richly deserved, irrespective of labels. No, get the meters in the right place and charge the companies for every drop they lose normally and especially after a big burst.

Who knows they might smell the coffee and bring the cost of a cubic metre of water down instead of keep putting mine up.

Simples.

NICK SHARROCK
Arlington Avenue, N1