Dire warnings of water shortages on an island surrounded by seas

I came across this in the Express And Star today.

‘Manage Britain’s water now or face future of emergency bottled supplies’

Infrastructure advisers are calling for a national hosepipe ban and compulsory water metering as the nation braces for drought.

The National Infrastructure Committee (NIC) has said water needs to start being managed better across the UK, otherwise the country could face a future of queueing for emergency bottled supplies “from the back of lorries”.

The Government also needs to invest around £20 billion in the nation’s water supply equipment, NIC chairman Sir John Armitt told The Observer.

“You have to pay for (water), one way or another,” he said.

“That could be investing in new reservoirs or moving water around the country, as well as stopping leaks.”

“Manage Britain’s water now or face future of emergency bottled supplies” – Express & Star, 31st July 2022

Now I don’t know if it has escaped anyone’s notice but the United Kingdom is also known as the ‘British Isles’, that’s right, a small collection of islands off the north-west coast of the European continent. Islands which are surrounded by millions, if not billions, of gallons of water.

Yet somehow we have a problem sometimes with ‘water shortages’.

There is always one solution that always gets overlooked though. Yes, it is true that all this sea water that surrounds our islands is ‘salt-water’, so you can’t just drink it. It’s probably also a bit dirty too.

There are many countries around the world that get around this problem, using technology known as ‘desalinisation’. Salt water from the sea is pumped into desalinisation plants, which filter and extract the salt and leave ‘fresh water’.

Now yes it is true that desalinisation plants are expensive to build and maintain, and the process itself uses a great deal of energy. But I’m surprised this has not been considered at all by our government, who are of course not averse to ‘finding money’ to spend on huge projects such as this.

We currently have a water supply which ‘banks’ on rainfall being collected in huge reservoirs and is then treated and pumped across the country.

There’s an incredible lack of foresight from our Government though, as this water supply system isn’t designed for the ever-growing population on our isles, and the Government also seems to be very keen on growing that population even further. More homes and more people = more demand for water as well as more sewage water waste that needs treating.

So while I would agree that the Government does need to invest more money into the water supply network, I do think it is also the case that a country surrounded on all sides by seas should not be facing water shortages or imposing bans or restrictions on water use.