Britain's Water Crisis

[Cliff Hatton]

Here's a very interesting article from The Graun...

Britain's water crisis | Nick Davies | Environment | The Guardian

...nothing another 350,000 immigrants per year won't solve!

 

[wanderer]

Here's a very interesting article from The Graun...

Britain's water crisis | Nick Davies | Environment | The Guardian

...nothing another 350,000 immigrants per year won't solve!

Just a thought, why cant all those migrating Africans, fill the empty spaces in Eastern Europe left by the crowd that are over here.

 

[jasonbean1]

Nothing new, it's just been well hidden by the powers to be for many years.

What we need is underground super ressies that can store water in the north through the winter and send it down the canal sytem in the summer for us to use in the south east

China would help aus I bet

---------- Post added at 06:02 ---------- Previous post was at 05:56 ----------

Then again we don't need efficient natural resources......we all pay over the odds for them and put up with it. The energy and resource companies make a fortune which Osborne says is good for us as a country

 

[Cliff Hatton]

Haven't I read on numerous occasions that we're all something like 99.9999% water? Do the French water companies have a claim on us? Perhaps we'll all be liquidized in times of drought...

 

[floatfish]

This old one comes up in different forms year after year. The idea of sending water to where it is needed is great. Till they look at the costs, then as usual
it's silence. Till the next time.! Then off we go again.

 

[jasonbean1]

Haven't I read on numerous occasions that we're all something like 99.9999% water? Do the French water companies have a claim on us? Perhaps we'll all be liquidized in times of drought...

Cliff, it's not the shortage of water it's getting it when we need it....not saying suck an egg as you would already know.

Even in oxford we are going to spend millions sending water past us as fast as we can...god help below us

 

[The bad one]

Nothing new, it's just been well hidden by the powers to be for many years.

What we need is underground super ressies that can store water in the north through the winter and send it down the canal sytem in the summer for us to use in the south east

Ha ha ha! you clearly have no understanding of the geology of the north or it's own water needs and usage. I've got a better plan for you, we'll store your water in the 1000s of fracking holes we about to get, then send it to you full of all the contaminated sh!te for you to drink. That should within in 10 years sort out the over population of the southeast. But in the meantime here's something for you to drink :w

 

[no-one in particular]

I don't really understand this, the last two years have seen enormous rainfalls and flooding and I thought the ground and reservoirs must be full. Every now and then we get a drought year and everyone panics and then it rains and everyone forgets about it. Same with flooding, when was the last time the Somerset Levels was in the news or discussed in Parliament, its all now more or less forgotten about.
Rivers run low in the summer and then along comes the rain and they fill up, its natural.

I have lost all faith in these climatologists, was it the 76 drought, they were predicting in 50 years time we would be living in a semi desert, stand pipes and water rationing would be the norm, they used to run pictures in the news papers what it would be like. Panic, panic-no where near right, not even close.

The global average and combined land and ocean surface temperature, show a warming of 0.65 to 1.06°C, in the period 1880 to 2012.
Big deal, the world is going to end, what a load of tripe.
Just doom and gloom merchants, They are no better than old hags casting bones.

 

[Mark Wintle]

There are measures being taken in SOME places to improve supplies. Here in Dorset the water companies have been forced to stop abstracting so much from minor chalkstreams such as the Allen so they've built two reservoirs near Longham and a pipe network from what were pits near Ringwood, since deepened, to these reservoirs with piping in progress towards Blandford and Salisbury, with links between the various waterworks. I know there's been talk of a new 'super reservoir' to the west of Abingdon to help supply the Thames valley. But generally the overcrowded south east is struggling for water.

 

[no-one in particular]

I know there's been talk of a new 'super reservoir' to the west of Abingdon to help supply the Thames valley. But generally the overcrowded south east is struggling for water.

Forgive me Mark because I know I am a bit thick at times-What happens to all that water on the Somerset levels and the Thames last year, unprecedented flooding. I get it flows to the sea but does it fill up all the reservoirs as well, raises the water table again, I believe it was so high it was seeping into peoples houses, why is it such a problem now. And I imagine a lot of that must seep down the chalk and replenish the chalk streams reservoirs again in time. I mean its just hard to understand. water was actually coming up through the floorboards last year.
I know we had a bit of a dry period in the summer but whats unusual about that and its been raining on and off for the last four or five weeks, It just baffles me.



---------- Post added at 08:11 ---------- Previous post was at 07:55 ----------

And here is another thought- are droughts just a vital part of nature, another way nature replenishes itself. The rivers run low, fish die, some of the stronger ones survive and they improve the general health and fitness of the population. Another chance for a species to rejuvenate itself for the future? Is that not how it works in the natural world.
And if climate change is permanent part of it (which I doubt), should species that can survive low water, low oxygen conditions be the ones that should be allowed to survive and flourish. If our river become unsuitable for Barble say, should we fight it, can we!

---------- Post added at 08:40 ---------- Previous post was at 08:11 ----------

And we could always flood the Channel Tunnel with rain water if things do get a bit desperate., it would keep us going for a bit, it would be of more use that way anyway, might upset the French a bit but, whats new.

 

[greenie62]

....And we could always flood the Channel Tunnel with rain water if things do get a bit desperate., it would keep us going for a bit, it would be of more use that way anyway, might upset the French a bit but, whats new.

I reckon EDF have probably covered that idea in their contingency plans - guess where their profits go? mg:

 

[Peter Jacobs]

The UK is so far behind other Countries with regards to Desal' plants and the treatment of waste water to produce "grey water" for agricultural and leisure uses.

In the Middle East all golf courses are watered with grey water, and some of the largest desalination plants in the world are found there.

Depending on the course itself typically water usage is between 100k and 1m gallons of water per annum, that is 25 to 60 inches (63.5 cm to 152.4 cm) and a County like surrey has over 140 courses, so calculate how much water gets used in just one county?

All it takes is investment and some sound environmental common sense!

Incidentally, it seems now that Golf has overtaken angling as the nation's largest participation sport . . . . . with over 4 million golfers.

 

[thecrow]

Plenty of water in this country, to many people in this country......... with more to come

 

[pointngo]

I have lost all faith in these climatologists, was it the 76 drought, they were predicting in 50 years time we would be living in a semi desert, stand pipes and water rationing would be the norm, they used to run pictures in the news papers what it would be like. Panic, panic-no where near right, not even close.

Perhaps they weren't so far off the mark after all. Back in those days, Climatology was in it's infancy and it would have been a best guess at the time. They may not have got the effects correct but water shortage and climate change are real... we may only be seeing the initial effects but no-one really knows how fast the symptoms progress in relation to temperature changes.

It's not that we don't have enough water in the UK but we are useless at keeping hold of it. The EA have been dredging rivers and taking out bends and snags in many rivers to move more water, faster... which, anyone living in the lower reaches of rivers knows, doesn't work.

I think we need a large number of holding reservoirs, interconnected with pipework, to take in flood waters as required, and control the speed at which it's let back into the river system. Hydro electric generation schemes could be included, thus negating the need to destroy river habitats, which they invariably do. Every major river could have numerous reservoirs along it's length, providing water storage, wildlife habitat.. and more fishing space.

Problem with this scenario is the huge cost. We already need to update our infrastructure systems in this country, nevermind implementing a new countrywide reservoir infrastructure, but no-one wants to address the elephant in the room so the problem just gets passed from one Government to the next.

We'd save £millions on flood defences though which are at best a temporary solution.

 

[cassey]

Quote:
Originally Posted by markg View Post
....And we could always flood the Channel Tunnel with rain water if things do get a bit desperate., it would keep us going for a bit, it would be of more use that way anyway, might upset the French a bit but, whats new.
I reckon EDF have probably covered that idea in their contingency plans - guess where their profits go?

BUT there are other benefits that I'm sure Nigel Farage would support ....

 

[Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)]

Bl**du foreigners. Coming over here and drinking all our water. We had loads of water before they came.

Bloody Romans, coming over here and using all our water for irrigation and sanitation.

Not like the English emigrants in southern Spain. They just moved over there and opened their Union Jack cafes and bars and golf courses. And did it without consuming a single drop of water.

Bl**dy foreigners drinking more than their fair share of water.

 

[The bad one]

I probably agree with Crow’s statement ‘to many people…and more to come,’ but probably for different reasons than him. Population matters and matters a lot on a small island with ‘fixed finite natural resources’ of land and water. The hydrological cycle is well understood in the UK including the variances it throws up from time to time.

The population of the UK has grown since the 1970s at around 250-300,000 a year until the last 10 where it has gone up more or less by 100,000 a year, year on year. To the point were the last year figures (25 June 2014 – 25 June 2015) have been released for stands at 491 000 increase. Taking the total UK population as of June this year to 64,596,800 according to ONS figures.
At this level of population increase the UK will pass the 70 million mark by 2026. That is about the same population as France current has on a landmass of 2.8 times the landmass of the UK.

All of the forward population increase will need housing and water to supply it. This puts absolute press on land and would mean building 2 Greater Manchester’s or building on nearly 1000 squire miles across the UK by 2026

The water usage per day, per person, is stated by Water Watch, as 150 litres and increasing. That is a huge increase in water provision for another 51/2 million people by 2026.
But it doesn’t stop there as housing and infrastructure, water storage and food production will compete for much the same land. Water storage – Reservoirs are going to have to be built in shallower depression areas than they are at the present, as all the best sites already have them with little room for expansion. Shallower reservoirs will need much larger areas of land to make them viable as water holding areas to service the grown population. That land will have to come from land that produces food crops currently. The same land that could also be used for housing growth.

As much as it pains me to have to say it, the UK is going to lose large areas of Greenbelt and green land to accommodate both housing/infrastructure and water storage to service the population growth that’s coming down the track
It’s also a fact that every time this land is gobbled up for the two above, we lose fertile land from food production, which threatens our ability to produce our own food on our own land for the population. In short it adds to the threat of our food security!

Therefore I’m convinced, as a nation we must take very seriously what is an over population growth in the UK.

So yes ‘Population Matters’ and it matters a lot on what is a small finite resourced island!

 

[no-one in particular]

The population of the UK has grown since the 1970s at around 250-300,000 a year until the last 10 where it has gone up more or less by 100,000 a year, year on year. To the point were the last year figures (25 June 2014 – 25 June 2015) have been released for stands at 491 000 increase. Taking the total UK population as of June this year to 64,596,800 according to ONS figures.
At this level of population increase the UK will pass the 70 million mark by 2026. That is about the same population as France current has on a landmass of 2.8 times the landmass of the UK.

!

Not disputing your point Badone as I agree our population is becoming a problem for our resources of land etc. However it has to be mitigated with the fact the world population has increased steadily for 100's of years. Birth mortality rate has decreased steadily and people live a lot longer and we have a migration out as well. The surges we have of immigration do cause a lot of problems but I think the population of this country today would not be so very different regardless of this.
The problem comes from the surges of immigration, they are not planned for. As we are in the EU still, when these occur they should be made to spread out more, the problem is they all head for the so called richest nations and their already overcrowded cities or where they think they are going to get the best treatment. They should be allocated across all the EU countries according to living space, jobs resources etc. The problem is lack of organization of these surges in the EU; particularly refuges.
The Israelis were a good example, they took uninhabitable parts of Israel and turned them into inhabitable irrigated areas with organization and hard work. Similar areas in the EU could be allocated to all these immigrants or refugees and with a bit of help from their host countries could become an asset, not a burden.
And as the topic is water shortage they could be given the means to build their own reservoirs in these areas, plenty of fit young men among them. maybe they could become skilled in it and build other reservoirs for the rest of their host country. Just leaving them to struggle and dump themselves where they want and being a burden looking for handouts is not any good-- for them let alone the rest of the countries they end up in.
Thats just my take on it

 

[theartist]

Anyone who thinks a growing population will not have a negative effect on our rivers needs to buy an old map. It's as simple as that. Then you'll see rivers with weird and wonderful names that sadly no longer exist. The sad thing is you don't need an antique map to do this. I have one from the eighties which most of us remember as it's only 30 years ago. In another 30 years there will be more rivers disappearing only to reappear in winter with a vengance to remind us of their greatness in the shape of flooding.

Water companies wont invest their shareholders profits in new reservoirs or de-salination plants when they can use bore holes. Who cares if rivers dry up there's no reproach or punishment, least I haven't heard of any

 

[thecrow]

I probably agree with Crow’s statement ‘to many people…and more to come,’ but probably for different reasons than him

Not for any other reason than the one that you posted, to many people using up dwindling recourses. Its pretty basic really.