The UK is facing a number of beach closures due to sewage run-off as water companies are bypassing treatment and dumping raw sewage. Sewage run-off is supposed to happen on rare occasions; however, water companies are allowing run-off more than on rare occasions. Critics have suggested that the companies are choosing profits over reinvestment in the treatment plants. Could the problems faced with sewage by the UK be due to the privatization of the water utility sector?