The BBC reports on work to replace hundreds of miles of leaky old water pipes in London.

Severe traffic disruption is expected in central London while a 17-month project is carried out to replace a Victorian water mains system.

Queen Victoria popped her royal clogs one hundred and six years ago. I’m not quite sure whether to be impressed that the old pipes have lasted that long, or depressed that we’ve been limping along on horse-and-cart-age technology for over a century. On balance, I think it’s the latter.

Whether it’s the potholed roads, the cranky Underground, or the leaky water mains, the decades of lack of investment in this city is palpable. I would love to get the people with responsibility for our infrastructure together and—after banging their heads together—take them to Tokyo or Seoul, or maybe Shanghai, to show them what the future is supposed to look like. I’m convinced that they just don’t know any better.