Yes Don because at the time the Nationalised Water industry was in poor shape with our water supplies having the reputation in the 1980s of being the dirty man of Europe because of pollution of our rivers and poor-quality drinking water.
That isn't to condone or trivialise the current situation where the Companies like Thames are in a real mess and in the spotlight re dividends etc.
The problem is we have no way of knowing what the outcome of continued public ownership would have been for the industry and for us, its users, the costs. Nationalisation doesn't have a good track record for its efficiency and overall delivery.
A reet mess nevertheless!!