Latest news with #watersupply
The Independent
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Major reservoirs to unlock new UK homes and address water supply fears
The government has intervened in the planning of two major reservoir projects in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, amid growing concerns over the UK's water supply. Environment Secretary Steve Reed has designated these projects as "nationally significant," thereby transferring authority from local planning to central government. This decision seeks to expedite the construction of these reservoirs, the first in over three decades, to enhance water resources for more than 750,000 homes in England 's water-stressed regions and facilitate new housing developments. The government plans to legislate that major reservoirs will automatically be designated as "nationally significant" to streamline their construction and secure future water supplies. Officials caution that without new reservoirs, population growth, aging infrastructure, and climate change could cause drinking water demand to exceed supply by the mid-2030s. Water supply shortages are also impeding the construction of thousands of homes in areas like Cambridge. The two reservoirs which have been designated as nationally significant are being proposed by Anglian Water, which wants to build the Lincolnshire reservoir south of Sleaford and is partnering with Cambridge Water for the Fens Reservoir between Chatteris and March in Cambridgeshire. Under the plans, the Lincolnshire reservoir, which would provide up to 166 million litres a day for up to 500,000 homes, would be completed by 2040 and the Fens Reservoir, supplying 87 million litres a day to 250,000 homes in the driest region of the UK, would be completed by 2036. Both projects will now progress to the consultation phase, gathering views from communities and stakeholders, the Government said. Water companies across England have committed to bringing nine new reservoirs online by 2050, in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire Somerset, Suffolk, Kent, East Sussex and the West Midlands and Somerset, with the potential to supply 670 million litres of extra water per day. Water Minister Emma Hardy said the Government was 'intervening in the national interest and slashing red tape to make the planning process faster to unblock nine new reservoirs'. She said it would secure water supply for future generations and unlock the building of thousands of homes.
Reuters
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
China's Xi urges efforts to ensure water supply amid drought, state media reports
BEIJING, May 20 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping urged relevant departments to work closely together to strengthen water allocation to ensure water supply for urban and rural residents and agricultural irrigation needs, the Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday. Xi made the remarks during an inspection tour in central China's Henan province.
BBC News
15-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Why does Scotland use more water than the rest of the UK?
People in Scotland have been told to use water supplies sparingly after the driest start to the year since supplier Scottish Water is also warning that the country's relationship with water is unsustainable in the long is because the average person in Scotland uses about 40% more water than the average person in why does Scotland use more water than the rest of the UK? Scotland has some of the wettest parts of the UK, so it is perhaps counterintuitive to think about it as a country facing water scarcity. One challenge is the fact that only around 1% of the country's infamous rainfall is captured in reservoirs. Another supply issue is that Scotland gets through so much water compared to the rest of the UK. Figures from regulator Ofwat show that in 2023/24 an average of 140.4 litres of water per person per day was used in England and Wales. Yorkshire Water's rate in this period was 126.9 litres per day, while Northumbrian Water was 154.7 litres per day. By contrast, Scottish Water's consumption rate was an average of 178 litres per way Scots pay for water offers one possible explanation for the bigger consumption rates. Water meters About half of households in England and Wales have a water meter, so they only pay for the amount they use, plus a standing a small number of Scottish households have water most pay for water and sewerage services as part of their council tax, with the amount linked to their property's council tax means that for many in Scotland the only time they see how much they pay for water is when they see the annual council tax statement. Research has shown that households with meters use less water as they are more aware of how much their usage is costing them. A mindset of abundance A fact rolled out on most school trips to Loch Ness is that it contains more fresh water than all the lakes in England and Wales a country with 30,000 freshwater lochs, water scarcity is not usually high on the agenda. But it is this perception of abundance that troubles Scottish Water's chief executive Alex Plant. Speaking to the BBC podcast ScotCast in February, he said: "We're at a point where we are really worried, collectively as a nation, about the sufficiency of our water supply. "So we should be thinking about water not as plentiful and abundant and you don't need to worry about it, and more as something that is a precious resource."Part of it is this mindset that we assume it's abundant and therefore we don't worry about it too much."He added: "I think another reason is that almost nobody in Scotland understands how much water they're using because we pay through our council tax (and) we don't understand the amount we're using." Scotland is also facing more frequent spells without rain. Climate change models predict that summers in Scotland will likely become drier, with a potential decrease of 10% to 20% in summer opinion polling by Consumer Scotland suggests most consumers (77%) in Scotland are concerned about climate only around one in five (19%) are concerned about how much water is used in their a better understanding of the link between the impact of climate change and water usage is what Mr Plant wants to address. The water of life Although households are the biggest users of water in Scotland, its industrial uses are also a factor in the overall consumption - both rainfall and surface water - is critical to the production of the country's most famous export, is why distilleries are paying close attention to projections that suggest there will be double the frequency of low river flow events by 2050. Elsewhere, water from rivers and burns is also vital to Scotland's agricultural sector. Soft fruit and vegetable production, mainly based in the south and east of the country, often requires large volumes of water to irrigate crops. This is especially true in dry periods like the current industry like chemical plants are also big consumers of water, with the Grangemouth industrial complex historically one of the biggest daily users of mains water in the UK. Are water monitors the future? Part of Scottish Water's plan to try and get Scotland's consumption rates closer to English rates is to get people thinking about the water they utility firm is embarking on a pilot project in Dundee to install "smart" monitors for around 2,000 homes over a three-year is hoped this will help customers understand their water usage and improve Scottish Water's ability to find and fix Plant said: "It's a monitor rather than a meter because you're not going to pay for it."We'd be able to start showing people what they're using, not to charge by the usage, but just to show people what they are using."Understanding what you're using encourages a different relationship with the thing you're using."
