Water, Water Everywhere – But Not A Drop In Taps.

[jambutty]

With apologies to the Ancient Mariner.

So parts of the country have reached the state where stand pipes will be almost inevitable unless we, or rather they, conserve water. And more areas have had water usage restrictions placed upon the customers.

Why?

The water companies come up with a variety of excuses ranging from a dry winter 2 years running to customer wastage. Nothing about using some or even all of the excess profits and shareholder dividends though. Fat cat salaries and perks don’t get a mention and only lips service is paid to the billions of litres of clean water lost in leaks. During a news interview yesterday evening a Water Company had the cheek to state that it would be too expensive to replace all the leaky pipes. The mind boggles!

If there were little or no leakage there would not be a water shortage in certain areas but the god of money rules the water industry and profits come before service. So Joe Public bears the brunt of any restrictions whilst the money that we pay leaks away into the coffers of the select few.

I will not be restricting my water usage, mainly because I don’t waste any anyway and never have done. But then a few years on a post war warship teaches you that water is precious and once it has gone there ain’t no more until you hit port.

I can’t help feeling that some Water Companies are crying wolf to some extent and that there is a secret agenda to force every household to use water meters by law.

Living on my own as I do, (if you discount that spider in the shower room and the one that guards my back window) if I had a water meter, I would expect to save some £50 per year. What’s the betting that a metered water bill will not make such a large saving but a nominal ten or fifteen quid.

[chav1]

the govenment should take back the water and keep it govenment controlled

thse idiots have proven that they cant handle the resposabiity to keep us with water so take the water back and dont give them another penny

[SPUGGIE J]

Did it never occur to those numpties that keep building housing down south that you need a certain level of infrastructure. They have all these stats that the average family uses x amount of water per day yet they still go ahead and build knowing there might not be enough water available. This says to me that there is a serious planning problem which needs to be addressed before they build more. One argument I heard was that the type of rocks down there are not the "right kind" for holding water for any length of time. Why the hell cant they build a few ressies on the land for housing on the line of the concrete bowl at Bewl?

If they think its bad now what will it be like if they carry on like this and winters and summers become dryer?

[garinda]

We live on an island for God's sake. If countries with less rainfall than we get manage so should our warter companies.

Some of the vast profits made should be invested in desalination plants, especially with the massive increase in homes being planned for the south east.

[Acrylic-bob]

Floating Icebergs up the Thames ... well, haven't we heard it all now?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...184327,00.html

[Tealeaf]

Originally Posted by Acrylic-bob

Floating Icebergs up the Thames ... well, haven't we heard it all now?

Yep...they weren't very successful in floating the whale, either.

[accymel]

Originally Posted by Acrylic-bob

Floating Icebergs up the Thames ... well, haven't we heard it all now?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...184327,00.html

Well at some point in the distant future London will be under sea

[accymel]

Well according to United Utilities everyone will be water metered at some point in the next decade or so.

[SPUGGIE J]

Originally Posted by accymel

Well according to United Utilities everyone will be water metered at some point in the next decade or so.

Money grabbing MF's!!!! To make it worse all the mony that these water companies pay their bosses is for SFA work wise!!!!!!!!!

[accymel]

Originally Posted by SPUGGIE J

Money grabbing MF's!!!! To make it worse all the mony that these water companies pay their bosses is for SFA work wise!!!!!!!!!

Yep specially as bills this year have risen by 9.5%!!

[Gayle]

Getting more money for the water we use really isn't the solution.

We live on an island surrounded by water, it rains 360 days a year (I've allowed for the 5 days that we get as a summer) and yet we're running out of water - absolutely ridiculous.

What some enterprising business needs to do is sell water tanks that you put on top of your house. If you look at all the hotels and homes in Greece they all seem to have these water tanks, so they collect their own water and always have water for their toilets and showers.

[SPUGGIE J]

Originally Posted by Gayle

Getting more money for the water we use really isn't the solution.

We live on an island surrounded by water, it rains 360 days a year (I've allowed for the 5 days that we get as a summer) and yet we're running out of water - absolutely ridiculous.

What some enterprising business needs to do is sell water tanks that you put on top of your house. If you look at all the hotels and homes in Greece they all seem to have these water tanks, so they collect their own water and always have water for their toilets and showers.

A few enterprising people use it along with wind turbines and solar panels to be as green as possible. How long would it be before you get taxed on them.

A work mates friend who is working down south at the mo is coming up for a visit and the have a hosepipe ban at home and we made a few suggestions for a trip or 2 surfice they were regect on the grounds of possible bodily violence.

[Mancie]

Its a liberty! but global warming you know, anyway as long as you have enough water to drink,wash and other essentials otherwise I think you should be charged more for watering gardens and washing cars. are there bans on auto car washes?

Jambutty said "I will not be restricting my water usage, mainly because I don’t waste any anyway and never have done. But then a few years on a post war warship teaches you that water is precious and once it has gone there ain’t no more until you hit port"

apologies bruv but i thought sailors were more partial to RUM, ooow i can't wait till i get on the port and lemon!!

[jambutty]

We may be surrounded by water Gayle but it is saltwater, which is expensive to desalinate. It doesn’t rain 360 days in a year in Darwen and when it does it is just a drizzle that does nothing for the water table and being warmer much evaporates before it can soak into the ground. Massive pour downs don’t do much either as most just runs off into rivers and streams.

The real answer to the potential water shortage problem is more reservoirs and no leaks. But that costs money and the NIMBY attitude of Joe Public. There is money in the water industry but that would mean no share dividends and bonuses for the fat cats. A two years freeze on dividends would release sufficient funds to solve the water problem once and for all.

It’s a different Navy today to the one that I knew Mancie. No Rum for starters. A ship has fresh water tanks for drinking and cooking and separate fresh water tanks for washing and showers that are topped up from the desalination plant that also supply the boilers with non-salty water. They also flush the toilets with seawater. Deck scrubbing etc is done using seawater. There was even special saltwater soap. Ordinary soap will not lather in seawater.

And therein lies the key to fresh water usage. More than 90% of the treated water does not get used for drinking and cooking. The rest is used for washing, toilet flushing etc. Sadly it wouldn’t be practical to supply each home with two water supplies one for drinking and cooking with and one for other uses.

[jambutty]

Ooops! Sorry! Twitchy finger.