Parts of the UK face water ban following a dry winter. by Susan Powell
Spring has now officially sprung, and with it the first significant rainfall for many of us in a fair while. Certainly a welcome drink for the spring blooms, but will it be enough to top up some of the UK's desperately low reservoirs?
Southeast England faces water restrictions in the near future after four months of well below average rainfall - most seeing only around half the winter average.
This month, 'Southern Water' issued a drought warning to its customers in Kent and Sussex. Their Weir Wood reservoir (near East Grinstead, West Sussex) which depends solely on rainwater is currently only 57% full. Levels here should be around 90% at this time of year.
As a result of the currently depleted levels the company has asked people in homes fed off Wier Wood to conserve water wherever possible in the coming months to prevent a summer shortage. The biggest culprits for wasted water are dripping taps and the use of hosepipes.
'Sutton and East Surrey Water' supply 650,000 people across east Surrey, West Sussex, west Kent and south London. 15% of its customers depend on one reservoir - Bough Beech in west Kent.
Ground water makes up 85% of Bough Beech's water supply but the shortage may seem all the more surprising to some here after the recent heavy snow in the county and its subsequent thaw. However deep snow does not equal deep water - 10cm of snow is only equivalent to 1cm of rain!
Today, 22nd of March, is 'World Water Day 2005' and the start of a decade of action on 'Water for Life'. As part of this years campaign the CIWEM (Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Mangement) is calling for the UK Government to play a part in properly valuing water and preventing avoidable waste.
New building regulations are being called for to design new homes with more efficient water systems - hopefully achieving as least a 20-25% saving in water use per person. This would make a vast difference with the hundreds of thousands of new homes being proposed for the southesast as part of the governments 'Sustainable Communities Plan'.
For now though, most of us are still dependent on water networks the best part of a century old. While we can't personally change this infrastucture and its historical problems - perhaps today, on 'World Water Day' we can all thing about being a little more speedy turning off that tap when brushing our teeth?
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