Thames Water is said to be mulling a debt raise under its survival plans, adding to the billions already owed by London’s supplier.
Board members are due to meet on Thursday to discuss a new five-year spending plan, which will then be published on Friday.
According to the Guardian, this could include adding to the company’s £15.6 billion debt pile, which stretches to £18 billion when including others across its complicated structure.
Such high debt has already put the company, which supplies around 15 million people, on the verge of collapse, as servicing costs have increased in recent years.
Parent Kemble Water has already defaulted on a £400 million loan as a result, with bondholders having also been told it will miss a deadline to pay £190 million this month.
Regulator Ofwat earlier this week gave Thames Water a deadline in June to present a viable survival plan.
This is said to include bill hikes for consumers, with Ofwat and Thames' shareholders previously having disagreed over such increases, prompting the latter not to offer funding to the embattled supplier.