Water shortfall declared ‘nationally significant’ – as amber heat health alert set to strike

17 comments

1. Please lets consider rainwater harvesting tanks for new builds used to flush loos and water gardens and save a massive amount of water each day. Good for bills, good for water supply, relatively low cost and way cheaper than solar and batteries. And yes, water companies to invest in new reservoirs like the abingdon one thats been in planning for years and preventing/ fixing g leaks in the system

2. Water shortage on a very small and very rich island. 

3. Oh no, the consequences of our non-actions!

   Maybe we should’ve been preparing for this by building reservoirs etc…

4. Good job we have a highly respected water industry thats been constructively preparing for this moment for decades

5. “Privatising public services will make them more efficient and businesslike!”

   I say we should cut off all water to anyone who voted Tory in the Thatcher/Major era, to save enough water for the rest of us. This is a direct consequence of their decisions.

6. Make something scarce then charge a premium for it, the same playbook as housing and gas/electric.

7. And still they keep building houses to further increase demand. It’s almost like they’re doing it on purpose….

8. Millions more people, a much higher demand and no thought on how to store water for everyone. It’s really no surprise.

   South West Water seems to be the only water authority making provisions for new reservoirs by flooding old quarries.

   We haven’t had such a shortage of rain in this area though, one reservoir is still at 91% and the biggest is at 60%. The biggest covers 900 acres so even at 60% it holds a lot of water.

9. I was randomly thinking the other day that the UK could set up forever wealth, if they effectively captured water and sent it across the Europe via pipes once the water issues begin globally

10. I grew up in one of the hottest, driest parts of Australia and we never had water restrictions. I lived in London for 25 years and I find it incredible that for a country where rains SO much that as soon as they have two weeks without rain suddenly they’re crying that they have no water. Are the reservoirs the size of a Victorian bathtub? Instead of investing profits into infrastructure the greedy Tories, company bosses and shareholders lined their pockets under the guise that privatisation makes things better.

11. We had biblical rain last month. I’d say the lack of investment is 3/4’ers of the problem here. But blame/penalise the consumer…again.

12. Just to clarify (since this is literally a UK sub), while the headline says nationally significant, the article quickly specifies (emphasis mine):

    “The water shortfall situation **in England** has been described as a “nationally significant incident””

    (PS and I am only clarifying: there aren’t necessarily water issues outside England but also (while yes it’s frustrating when UK and England are conflated) pragmatically, given England’s size and population, this is also UK-nationally significant or relevant thing despite being England specific… and OP can’t alter the headline either!)

13. I think we need to build another thousand AI data centres!

14. And once again all of us will be expected to take responsibility to lower our usage whilst the water companies that have spent decades doing sweet fuck all (like maybe building more reservoirs or fixing old pipes so they don’t burst) will continue to be let off the hook and increase bills – and pay themselves bonuses for a job well done probably.

    Privatised water in the UK is a national disgrace.

15. Thank god Reform and their climate denial stance are polling well. They will stop this by claiming climate change is woke nonsense and not real, so reservoirs will just be at their normal level all year.

16. I’m so sick of hearing about this water shortage, for goodness sake there is a serious lack of political will.

    Class it as an emergency and take back control.

    All I hear is it’s too big of a problem so let’s do nothing and pinky promise we’ll do better in the future.

    The board needs throwing in a cell for their handling of this.

17. We should not be looking to be coming a Massive user of AI in the UK until we have the water to fill our water tanks and what’s left AI can have not the other way round.

    I asked AI how much water it needs to answer a question and it’s said an average 500ml half a ltr.

    Imagine now everything running on AI the water needed imagine now why we have so little water is this also down to our new reliance on AI in the UK?

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