After bubbling away for years, the crisis in England’s water industry is closing in on boiling point. And Macquarie Group, with more than $3 billion invested in the sector and its UK reputation on the line, will be feeling the heat.

Britain’s outbreak of public fury over the often deplorable state of its sewage-infested rivers and beaches is not new. But it is now making corporate headlines, with the near collapse of the formerly Macquarie-controlled mega-utility Thames Water.