De-salination requires huge amouts of energy which at the moment makes it economically prohibative, not to mention dubious environmentally unless you are sourcing renewable energy.
Most new developments are required to incorporate Sustainable Drainage Systems that return as much surface water to the underlying aquifer as possible and don't just send it all into Drains->River->Sea. We should also be encouraging new house to include water capture and recycling systems, water butts and bio-digesters, that sort of thing. You can do you bit in you own garden by not haveing a completely paved front drive, for exmple.
Car washes, at least newly installed ones, are supposed to have a water recycling system but older ones do not and I doubt your aveage group of Kosovans setting up a hand car wash worry about getting one installed.
We are completely decadent with our use of water these days - things like pre-cooked rice for example use a huge amount of water to produce and there are just too many people in the UK, although I would like to distance myself from SE10s angle on that.
As has been stated- the north of the country gets too much rain, so all that is needed is pipes to transfer some of it down south - would be cheaper than desalination.
As has been stated- the north of the country gets too much rain, so all that is needed is pipes to transfer some of it down south - would be cheaper than desalination.
Better still would be to make a proper effort to distribute the population more evenly away from the South East.
Apparently the wettest April on record has made "no difference" to the drought - in fact I was reading one experts comments earlier who was suggesting that the drought had actually worsened in some places.
Apparently the problem is that the rain is either falling on hard ground and washing straight into rivers, etc, or else is being soaked up in the ground and - shock horror - hoovered up by thirsty plants.
I'm no expert, but surely that's what rain does - it either washes straight into rivers or else gets soaked up in the ground. If an extremely wet April makes "no difference" then I would suggest that we're completely f*cked in the long term unless we actually start looking at ways to keep hold of a bit more of the stuff when it falls!
Apparently the wettest April on record has made "no difference" to the drought - in fact I was reading one experts comments earlier who was suggesting that the drought had actually worsened in some places.
Apparently the problem is that the rain is either falling on hard ground and washing straight into rivers, etc, or else is being soaked up in the ground and - shock horror - hoovered up by thirsty plants.
I'm no expert, but surely that's what rain does - it either washes straight into rivers or else gets soaked up in the ground. If an extremely wet April makes "no difference" then I would suggest that we're completely f*cked in the long term unless we actually start looking at ways to keep hold of a bit more of the stuff when it falls!
Or the Water Companies do more to stop the huge amount of water that pours away on a daily basis from broken pipes etc
Wash your mouth out dickplumb - they've got shareholders to look after !
Seriously though, although they lose a hell of a lot through leaks, it seems to me that their systems don't really do enough to catch enough of the stuff in the first place - especially if the "experts" are to be believe that the latest downfall has made "no difference".
I was reading earlier that some parts of the South West have currently got drought warnings AND flood warnings in place at the same time. How on earth can that ever be the case!
As has been stated- the north of the country gets too much rain, so all that is needed is pipes to transfer some of it down south - would be cheaper than desalination.
Wash your mouth out dickplumb - they've got shareholders to look after !
Seriously though, although they lose a hell of a lot through leaks, it seems to me that their systems don't really do enough to catch enough of the stuff in the first place - especially if the "experts" are to be believe that the latest downfall has made "no difference".
I was reading earlier that some parts of the South West have currently got drought warnings AND flood warnings in place at the same time. How on earth can that ever be the case!
I totally agree with what you say.It is bizarre that you can have a drought warning and a fllod warning at the same time.
Apparently the wettest April on record has made "no difference" to the drought - in fact I was reading one experts comments earlier who was suggesting that the drought had actually worsened in some places.
Apparently the problem is that the rain is either falling on hard ground and washing straight into rivers, etc, or else is being soaked up in the ground and - shock horror - hoovered up by thirsty plants.
I'm no expert, but surely that's what rain does - it either washes straight into rivers or else gets soaked up in the ground. If an extremely wet April makes "no difference" then I would suggest that we're completely f*cked in the long term unless we actually start looking at ways to keep hold of a bit more of the stuff when it falls!
The water companies using the exorbitant charges they make from compulsory metering to mend leaks would be a good start!
Much more important to pay their executives high salaries as "incentives" in a non-competitive environment though.
Thank you Thatcher and others for selling our water to foreign companies.
Apparently the wettest April on record has made "no difference" to the drought - in fact I was reading one experts comments earlier who was suggesting that the drought had actually worsened in some places.
Apparently the problem is that the rain is either falling on hard ground and washing straight into rivers, etc, or else is being soaked up in the ground and - shock horror - hoovered up by thirsty plants.
I'm no expert, but surely that's what rain does - it either washes straight into rivers or else gets soaked up in the ground. If an extremely wet April makes "no difference" then I would suggest that we're completely f*cked in the long term unless we actually start looking at ways to keep hold of a bit more of the stuff when it falls!
Haven't you heard ? its the wrong kind of rain , along with the wrong kind of snow /ice /leaves/wind ........ feel free to add your own .
Am I the only one that was praying for the rain a few weeks ago? For a roofing company, no rain = no leaks = no work = no money! The recent wet weather now means the phone is ringing again and our services are required. Long may it continue.
I'm no expert, but a friend who teaches geography explained it to me in layman's terms; From what he said, my understanding is that it's the result of a succession of excessively dry winters. The problem with explaining this to the masses is, we don't notice it because even a "dry" winter involves quite a bit of rain, so people struggle to get it as a concept. (This is why so many people ask how it's possible to be a drought when it's raining.) Anyway, this has caused the water table to get lower year on year leaving us in the situation where even heavy rainfall makes little difference because added to the facts that the dry ground can't absorb it quick enough and so a large amount runs off as waste, you have all the thirsty vegetation getting as much as they can and once all that's happened, we're then only starting to replenish stoks that are already low. If we'd had lighter, but more frequent rain over a longer period of time, the issue wouldn't exist. Also, if we now have a loooong period of more than average rainfall, the situation will start to resolve itself - but a few days of absolutely pissing it down won't make much, if any, difference at all.
Like I say, I'm no expert, but that's the gist of what he told me.
So then lordromford, even if we take all of that as red, the rain this month MUST have made some difference?
I mean, if the water table/groundwater doesn't get replenished by this rain - even if it's just a bit - then how on earth is it ever going to be replenished?!
Dunno Offy. When I saw reports that the recent rain had made NO difference, I took it with a bit of a pinch of salt. I mean, even if this month's rain means the next month of rain replenishes the stocks, then the situation must be better than it was a month ago, surely? TBH, I was just interested, asked someone with more knowledge on the subject than me and that's what he told me.
Dunno Offy. When I saw reports that the recent rain had made NO difference, I took it with a bit of a pinch of salt. I mean, even if this month's rain means the next month of rain replenishes the stocks, then the situation must be better than it was a month ago, surely? TBH, I was just interested, asked someone with more knowledge on the subject than me and that's what he told me.
My point exactly LR - plus demand must've dropped off this month as well, which again MUST make a difference!
Before we had loads of rain so called experts were saying we only had 20% of the rain we ahould have had in the Autumn , like it or not were stick with a hosepipe ban , in fact since they announced a ban it hasn't stopped raining.
I thought Briton used to lead the world in engineering and construction, why can't we solve a problem like this, ie mend pipes / build more reservoirs to keep up with demand?
Because we are skint and the water companies are owned by shareholders who want a profit and aren't going to waste money fixing things when they can simply ration water. It's not as if you get your money back for the water you don't get. Next we will be getting a surcharge for standpipes or water delivered in containers. Moan, moan, moan.
Comments
Most new developments are required to incorporate Sustainable Drainage Systems that return as much surface water to the underlying aquifer as possible and don't just send it all into Drains->River->Sea. We should also be encouraging new house to include water capture and recycling systems, water butts and bio-digesters, that sort of thing. You can do you bit in you own garden by not haveing a completely paved front drive, for exmple.
Car washes, at least newly installed ones, are supposed to have a water recycling system but older ones do not and I doubt your aveage group of Kosovans setting up a hand car wash worry about getting one installed.
We are completely decadent with our use of water these days - things like pre-cooked rice for example use a huge amount of water to produce and there are just too many people in the UK, although I would like to distance myself from SE10s angle on that.
;o)
Apparently the problem is that the rain is either falling on hard ground and washing straight into rivers, etc, or else is being soaked up in the ground and - shock horror - hoovered up by thirsty plants.
I'm no expert, but surely that's what rain does - it either washes straight into rivers or else gets soaked up in the ground. If an extremely wet April makes "no difference" then I would suggest that we're completely f*cked in the long term unless we actually start looking at ways to keep hold of a bit more of the stuff when it falls!
Seriously though, although they lose a hell of a lot through leaks, it seems to me that their systems don't really do enough to catch enough of the stuff in the first place - especially if the "experts" are to be believe that the latest downfall has made "no difference".
I was reading earlier that some parts of the South West have currently got drought warnings AND flood warnings in place at the same time. How on earth can that ever be the case!
Much more important to pay their executives high salaries as "incentives" in a non-competitive environment though.
Thank you Thatcher and others for selling our water to foreign companies.
EDIT: You did ask Offy
http://eureferendum.blogspot.co.uk/2007/07/government-begins-at-home.html
and
http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=82438
and
http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=70096
:-)
For a roofing company, no rain = no leaks = no work = no money!
The recent wet weather now means the phone is ringing again and our services are required.
Long may it continue.
From what he said, my understanding is that it's the result of a succession of excessively dry winters. The problem with explaining this to the masses is, we don't notice it because even a "dry" winter involves quite a bit of rain, so people struggle to get it as a concept. (This is why so many people ask how it's possible to be a drought when it's raining.)
Anyway, this has caused the water table to get lower year on year leaving us in the situation where even heavy rainfall makes little difference because added to the facts that the dry ground can't absorb it quick enough and so a large amount runs off as waste, you have all the thirsty vegetation getting as much as they can and once all that's happened, we're then only starting to replenish stoks that are already low. If we'd had lighter, but more frequent rain over a longer period of time, the issue wouldn't exist. Also, if we now have a loooong period of more than average rainfall, the situation will start to resolve itself - but a few days of absolutely pissing it down won't make much, if any, difference at all.
Like I say, I'm no expert, but that's the gist of what he told me.
I mean, if the water table/groundwater doesn't get replenished by this rain - even if it's just a bit - then how on earth is it ever going to be replenished?!
When I saw reports that the recent rain had made NO difference, I took it with a bit of a pinch of salt. I mean, even if this month's rain means the next month of rain replenishes the stocks, then the situation must be better than it was a month ago, surely?
TBH, I was just interested, asked someone with more knowledge on the subject than me and that's what he told me.
The constant rain means nobody is using their hosepipe anyway.
The whole ban / shortage thing is fabricated just to deflect attention away from the other things that are going on.