Discussion
I've worked in the water industry indirectly for years and there are two major problems:
a) We don't pump water into reservoirs; they only fill up when it rains near by,
b) We clean all water to drinking water standards.
If the country was were starting again the no one would do either of those things.
a) We don't pump water into reservoirs; they only fill up when it rains near by,
b) We clean all water to drinking water standards.
If the country was were starting again the no one would do either of those things.
t when water cos are obliged to inversely link dividend to leakage rates.tamore said:
we're going to run out and we have to be more mindful of using it it due to scarcity.......
or..... criminally mismanaged plentiful resource on this island which is pretty soggy most of the year round.
i'll put a tick in the second box.
It’s certainly not soggy anymore the soil is absolutely bone dry most of the time, the amount of rain we do have does nothing to address that.or..... criminally mismanaged plentiful resource on this island which is pretty soggy most of the year round.
i'll put a tick in the second box.
frisbee said:
What companies are taking the piss. Or not!
Drinking your own piss: it's not just for Bear Grylls you know!https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/water-a...
Anecdotally, I think the figure for london metro area is that your tap water has been "recycled" about 7 times on average.
M.
snuffy said:
I've worked in the water industry indirectly for years and there are two major problems:
a) We don't pump water into reservoirs; they only fill up when it rains near by,
b) We clean all water to drinking water standards.
If the country was were starting again the no one would do either of those things.
If we didn’t do B, what would the effect on water supply be?a) We don't pump water into reservoirs; they only fill up when it rains near by,
b) We clean all water to drinking water standards.
If the country was were starting again the no one would do either of those things.
Nobody needs to bath or shower, clean the car or water the lawn with drinking water.
tamore said:
erm........ no. possibly the point of the post.
I'm with you, levels at least in the South are around 60% full. Without the massive leaks the water companies don't manage properly who knows what those levels would be. We are no where near running out of water any time soon despite the mismanagement though.With the planet being 70% water and levels rising at a rate we should be apparently worrying about and all the countries that are short of water that can’t grow crops or feed theirselves and global warming apparently getting worse, surely it’s about time the human race got more resourceful to balance the two out somehow? We don’t seem to be particularly good at storing it when we have plenty and a few weeks of dry weather seems to cause the inevitable shortages of a commodity that’s forever in greater demand.
scorcher said:
With the planet being 70% water and levels rising at a rate we should be apparently worrying about and all the countries that are short of water that can’t grow crops or feed theirselves and global warming apparently getting worse, surely it’s about time the human race got more resourceful to balance the two out somehow? We don’t seem to be particularly good at storing it when we have plenty and a few weeks of dry weather seems to cause the inevitable shortages of a commodity that’s forever in greater demand.
More like a few months of dry weather. The SE of England has had below average rainfall every month since November 2021 (except slightly above average in Dec and May, which was nowhere near enough to make up any deficit).The number and capacity of reservoirs is sufficient for average years but there is no infrastructure in place to deal with periods of prolonged dry weather. The easiest option is to reduce demand.
It's the same argument about why we can't cope with any extreme weather in this country.....it's because it's extreme/rare and it would be too expensive to build infrastructure for unknown extremes when there are easier options available.
Would we be happy with water bills doubling so more reservoirs could be built which may only be needed once every 5 years (and could be avoided by just using less for a few months)?
I know water companies should sort their leaks out but at the end of the day, the main issue is lack of rain (and a sense of entitlement that people feel they can use as much as they like of this 'free' resource).
xx99xx said:
More like a few months of dry weather. The SE of England has had below average rainfall every month since November 2021 (except slightly above average in Dec and May, which was nowhere near enough to make up any deficit).
The number and capacity of reservoirs is sufficient for average years but there is no infrastructure in place to deal with periods of prolonged dry weather. The easiest option is to reduce demand.
It's the same argument about why we can't cope with any extreme weather in this country.....it's because it's extreme/rare and it would be too expensive to build infrastructure for unknown extremes when there are easier options available.
Would we be happy with water bills doubling so more reservoirs could be built which may only be needed once every 5 years (and could be avoided by just using less for a few months)?
I know water companies should sort their leaks out but at the end of the day, the main issue is lack of rain (and a sense of entitlement that people feel they can use as much as they like of this 'free' resource).
The South East (where I grew up) also seems intent on jamming Barratt homes onto every square inch of land without putting any infrastructure in place The number and capacity of reservoirs is sufficient for average years but there is no infrastructure in place to deal with periods of prolonged dry weather. The easiest option is to reduce demand.
It's the same argument about why we can't cope with any extreme weather in this country.....it's because it's extreme/rare and it would be too expensive to build infrastructure for unknown extremes when there are easier options available.
Would we be happy with water bills doubling so more reservoirs could be built which may only be needed once every 5 years (and could be avoided by just using less for a few months)?
I know water companies should sort their leaks out but at the end of the day, the main issue is lack of rain (and a sense of entitlement that people feel they can use as much as they like of this 'free' resource).
xx99xx said:
More like a few months of dry weather. The SE of England has had below average rainfall every month since November 2021 (except slightly above average in Dec and May, which was nowhere near enough to make up any deficit).
The number and capacity of reservoirs is sufficient for average years but there is no infrastructure in place to deal with periods of prolonged dry weather. The easiest option is to reduce demand.
It's the same argument about why we can't cope with any extreme weather in this country.....it's because it's extreme/rare and it would be too expensive to build infrastructure for unknown extremes when there are easier options available.
Would we be happy with water bills doubling so more reservoirs could be built which may only be needed once every 5 years (and could be avoided by just using less for a few months)?
I know water companies should sort their leaks out but at the end of the day, the main issue is lack of rain (and a sense of entitlement that people feel they can use as much as they like of this 'free' resource).
"It's ridiculous that water companies should be expected to plan whole years ahead and work to eliminate leaks." Do you work in water company PR?The number and capacity of reservoirs is sufficient for average years but there is no infrastructure in place to deal with periods of prolonged dry weather. The easiest option is to reduce demand.
It's the same argument about why we can't cope with any extreme weather in this country.....it's because it's extreme/rare and it would be too expensive to build infrastructure for unknown extremes when there are easier options available.
Would we be happy with water bills doubling so more reservoirs could be built which may only be needed once every 5 years (and could be avoided by just using less for a few months)?
I know water companies should sort their leaks out but at the end of the day, the main issue is lack of rain (and a sense of entitlement that people feel they can use as much as they like of this 'free' resource).
frisbee said:
What companies are taking the piss. Or not!
Affinity WaterMy neighbour has a leak in the feed to their house enough to flood both our driveways on Sunday - A W attended promptly but said there is nothing they can do until 22/8 and to leave it running so that the house has supply - neighbour had turned themselves off
A rough calc shows that they have lost 120,000 litres in the first four days.
A W could not care less
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