[pjc50]

> Why can't we ask why we just treat this as an engineering issue.

Neither the public, nor the politicians, nor the newspapers to whom they are accountable, understand engineering.

> If there is some issue with public water supplies, how can the government build infrastructure to mitigate those issues?

The "public" water supplies have been privatized, and the government doesn't want to spend any money.

The privatization may eventually solve itself with the bankruptcy of Thames water, but the problem of money remains.