No wonder, either, that every so often the private sector makes a mistake, as anyone can: this new water-main or sewer is not built on time, or lack of rainfall means that a reservoir is dry.

ECONOMIST: Third-world water and the private sector

Thames Water has also been working on a surface water sewer main in the street.

BBC: Reading Friar Street cracked road surface

This was the theory behind Canadian artist Peter von Tiesenhausen's decision to bury a sculpture almost four metres underground, beneath a sewer at the main crossroads in the city of Sarnia, Ontario.

BBC: Why make art no-one can see?

During her five-day cruise, a water line broke in the hallway ceiling near her cabin, and a separate sewer line broke outside the main dining hall, she said.

NPR: Carnival Cancels 12 More Cruises On Troubled Ship

Only three-fifths of the people of Shanghai live in buildings connected to a sewer, and barely 3% of the inhabitants of Jakarta have access to the main drains.

ECONOMIST: Bursting cities, bust infrastructure