UK must act now or face long queues for bottled water, warn experts

By the end of the decade, a national hosepipe ban and mandatory water measuring should be adopted throughout the United Kingdom, a message advisers have provided to the government as they prepare for a drought that threatens to cause significant disruption. In future, people will have to stand in lines to buy emergency bottled water from the back of lorries.The National Infrastructure Committee (NIC) forewarned the government four years ago that significant new investments in the country’s water supply infrastructure would be necessary by the 2030s. However, water companies made several changes, but every day, around 3 billion litres of water are still lost, The Guardian reported.

According to the chair of the committee, Sir John Armitt, in conversation with the Observer, plugging these leaks will cost somewhere around £20 billion. He continued by saying that if investments are not made now, it will cost more than twice as much to deliver bottled water to UK homes by a lorry when droughts hit the country more frequently.

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Water measuring is considered the best way to reduce water use in the UK which has the highest water consumption in Europe. However, roughly around half of the households in England and Wales are expected to have water meters installed, and it was found that users with metered connectionsuse 33 litres a day less than the 141 litres per day national average.

The Rivers Trust, one of the key organisations at the emergency National Drought Group meeting the government called last week as dry conditions expanded throughout England, supported the NIC’s appeal. Critics claim that despite numerous warnings, the government appears to have done nothing.

As per the Met Office, July was the driest month on record since 1911, with barely 24 per cent of the usual amount of rain for the month. The south and east are particularly hard hit, with July’s rainfall being just 14 per of the normal July from 2010 to 2020.

The demand for mandatory water metering was denied by the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs.

(With inputs from agencies)

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