Severn Trent Water’s first quarter update next week would have been testing enough even before the near collapse of peer Thames Water.
Thames looks to have staved off failure and nationalisation for now with a new cash injection, but its woes have brought the issue of the financial structure of water utilities to the fore.
Indeed, Liv Garfield, Severn Trent’s chief executive, has already moved to put herself in Labour’s good books ahead of any change of government by proposing a “new breed of declared social purpose companies”.
Whether that would mean less pumping of sewage by the likes of Severn Trent and its peers into Britain’s rivers and shorelines remains to be seen.
Pollution as well as high debts, dividend payments, and spending on repairing drains and sewers will all be key points in Wednesday's trading update.
Environment Agency data showed Midlands-based Severn Trent was responsible for 122 spills a day in 2022, though the company did get the agency’s highest rating for a fourth successive year.
That was confirmed earlier this week with the Environment Agency adding: " Credit to Severn Trent Water who retain a 4-star rating for the fourth year," before adding "all know they are at the top of a very poor league".
Solving the sewage problem is going to require huge investment over the next regulatory period of 2025 to 2030 and paying for it will almost certainly see higher bills.
What haircut, if any, investors will have to take through lower dividends is less clear.