British Water Shortage

Well now the good ol' brits are going to be 'hit' with a shortage. But why have we not done anything about this until now? Why didnt the Government act last year when this was predicted?
Well I believe that the Government either did what they usually do and dismiss scientists or its all a hoax to get the british people to panic and to save more water for some other reason.
Anway guys what do you think about the inpending crisis?

Firstly its only for the south east of England that is going to be low on water this summer it's not as if the whole of the uk is going to run dry over the coming summer.

On your point about it being a hoax to get the public to use less water i just can't see it. What could it possibly be?

Your other point about the science being ignored isn't exactly true either. What could they have done in such a short space of time otehr than a rain dance?

i always found this a funny thing to happen. i mean, how can an island SURROUNDED by water be short of it?

the only shortage here is in lack of provision for very long hot weather conditions.

besdides, this is the 21st century now. NOBODY should be short of water!

Water shortages happen it's not the government's fault the rains didn't come. Here in my area we've been in drought conditions for some time this year however, should be better as we have a decent snow pack. But the previous years we just conserved water and will continue to do this year at least I will. Brown lawns aren't so bad

Aye thanks for sharing guys. Sorry about the Scientists i meant the weather guys (scientific name for them inserted here). We have been predicted a shortage since last year in some parts of England and yet the folks down south have been told to do is not use hose pipes. There are other options such as switch fountains off, pond ornaments and outdoor pools, I mean come on in the middle of winter and some folks keep their pools nice and watered. I just feel that the Government aint done enough but what can they do? People will always go on using hose pipes (for what in winter i do not know) and if there is to be a shortage we should avoid this happening in the future as we are bound to have a worse droat. After watching a bit of BBC News i noticed that they were suggesting building pipes linking reserviors all over the country. Anyway do you guys think the Government has done enough to combat this? What about a mass pipe system linking all reservoirs in the country?

Originally posted by UserID7645
Why didnt the Government act last year when this was predicted?

The British Government do take action. They have done every year for at least the last 5 or ten years.

The government issue "hosepipe" bans, which are exaclty what they seems. They are supposed to prevent water being wasted by people with huge gardens emptying litres and litres of water onto their flowers to stop them from dying.

Originally posted by justyc
how can an island SURROUNDED by water be short of it?

For the same reason people on desert islands are short of water. You can't drink sea water without desalinating it. And Britain does not have the huge oil reserves that the likes of Saudi Arabia etc have to justify large desalination plants

Originally posted by lev1978

Originally posted by justyc
how can an island SURROUNDED by water be short of it?

For the same reason people on desert islands are short of water. You can't drink sea water without desalinating it. And Britain does not have the huge oil reserves that the likes of Saudi Arabia etc have to justify large desalination plants

well, there are a lot of things they could do like reverse osmosis, using solar desalination plants or doing something like hong kong did and make all the toilets use sea water. its fine imposing hosepipe bans but most people just switch them on for a while in the night so what does that solve?

the uk is goin to suffer more droughts in the future. they should seriously be considering doing this stuff. or is it because there is no short term profit in it?

I live in Jacksonville FL. The northeast corner of the state. This part of Florida has a continental climate. 80 miles south becomes the Caribbean climate. Florida has 60 to 80 inches of rainfall per year. Yet, 80% of the water consumed is from groundwater.

In 1960, the average depth of a well serving Jacksonville was 300 feet. In 2000, the same wells are 750 feet in depth. It is now necessary to pump water into wells drilled along the ocean-front to block salt water flowing into the acquirer. Somewhere I recently saw statistics saying the average daily water usage per person in sub-Saharan Africa was 5 gallons, in Europe, 50 gallons and in America, 90 gallons.

I doubt there was a water shortage in the UK or in the US in 1906. I also would guess the amount of water available in the UK and US is the same in 2006 as it was in 1906. The problem is our populations have increased 3X in the last century. But water stays constant. Do I hear Malthus here?

What to do? Long term? Issue free condoms at every drinking fountain. Or, short term, check into Saudi Arabia where the largest de-salinization scheme has been in operation for several decades

Originally posted by donwhite


I doubt there was a water shortage in the UK or in the US in 1906. I also would guess the amount of water available in the UK and US is the same in 2006 as it was in 1906. The problem is our populations have increased 3X in the last century. But water stays constant. Do I hear Malthus here?

Yes, and another point as far as the UK is concerned is that much more of our land is now covered in buildings and roads - which increases run-off (and the risk of flooding) but reduces the amomnut of rain that percolates down to the water table.

One thing for sure, there's nothing particularly unusual about having a couple of dry winter in the UK!

It could well be that it'll be the South of Great Britain that may suffer this summer, but I
can assure you that this sort of story is a favourite in the files of newspapers.
Can you recall that this winter was supposed to be the worst in the UK for decades?
Rubbish!, it was a mild possibilty that some 'bad' weather may occur and the media
ran with it, even to the point where some people at the MET office complained!

As someone who works in the newspaper industry, here's a tip.
It's all about filling little boxes with text, it doesn't matter what the text says, just
fill 'em!
The North has plenty of water, if needed and I can assure you that it's still just
a 'man bites dog' story, the powers-that-be will transport it... just like they did a
few years ago.