Money down the drain

At the end of last month, the annual Oxford-Cambridge boat race took place on the River Thames.

- Andrew Anthony

It's a familiar part of the calendar of British life, one of those events that holds a mirror up to this society, with all its strange traditions and odd new habits. 

This year, it was more revealing than usual, when the losing Oxford crew complained that several of its members had come down with stomach bugs, thought to be related to the high levels of E coli in the river as a result of sewage dumping.

The more it rains in England, the more the water companies pour sewage into the rivers. This year, it has rained almost incessantly. February and March were among the wettest months on record. Which means rivers are more polluted than ever.

Of course, water companies aren't supposed to pour sewage into rivers. They do it because if they get caught, it's cheaper to pay the fines than to invest in the infrastructure required to avoid polluting rivers.