Murky water: Challenging an unsustainable system
Nov 2025 · Manchester University Press
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About this ebook
Essential reading for anyone concerned with the future of our most vital resource.
Our water system is a mess. Rising bills and rivers full of sewage grab the headlines, but the greater threat is climate crisis, bringing increased drought and flooding.
This book exposes the many problems with our unsustainable water system. Unfair charges limit spending on infrastructure, while financial extraction has turned the water companies into debt-burdened zombies in an increasingly fragmented system.
Reforming regulation and tinkering with tariffs will not be enough, and public ownership is just the first step. Murky water shows that the system can only be made sustainable through a radical overhaul of how it is owned, managed, funded and planned. We need a new kind of water management, with national and catchment planning and coordinated action by landowners, local authorities and water companies.
Westminster and Whitehall currently stand in the way. To overcome their resistance and secure a sustainable future, we must ignite a social movement capable of challenging power.
Our water system is a mess. Rising bills and rivers full of sewage grab the headlines, but the greater threat is climate crisis, bringing increased drought and flooding.
This book exposes the many problems with our unsustainable water system. Unfair charges limit spending on infrastructure, while financial extraction has turned the water companies into debt-burdened zombies in an increasingly fragmented system.
Reforming regulation and tinkering with tariffs will not be enough, and public ownership is just the first step. Murky water shows that the system can only be made sustainable through a radical overhaul of how it is owned, managed, funded and planned. We need a new kind of water management, with national and catchment planning and coordinated action by landowners, local authorities and water companies.
Westminster and Whitehall currently stand in the way. To overcome their resistance and secure a sustainable future, we must ignite a social movement capable of challenging power.
Essential reading for anyone concerned with the future of our most vital resource.
Our water system is a mess. Rising bills and rivers full of sewage grab the headlines, but the greater threat is climate crisis, bringing increased drought and flooding.
This book exposes the many problems with o...
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Ratings and reviews
1 review
Mahamid Ahmed
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May 3, 2026
A fascinating, meticulous and holistic account of the water sector in the UK. Packed with data, evidence, graphs and analysis this is a book that is a deep anatomy of the water sector, which is almost poetic in its flow. It presents solutions such as progressive charging based on household expenditure, public ownership, cross-catchment planning and coordination of multiple social actors. A radical re-think of water, unique and novel contribution.
About the author
Luca Calafati is an independent researcher and social entrepreneur
Julie Froud is Professor of Financial Innovation at Alliance Manchester Business School
Colin Haslam is Emeritus Professor of Accounting and Finance at Queen Mary, University of London
Sukhdev Johal is Chair in Accounting and Strategy at Queen Mary, University of London
Karel Williams is Director of Foundational Alliance Wales
Luca Calafati is an independent researcher and social entrepreneur
Julie Froud is Professor of Financial Innovation at Alliance Manchester Business School
Colin Haslam is Emeritus Professor of Accounting and Finance at Queen Mary, University of London
Sukhdev Johal is Chair in Accounting and Stra...
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