Recent warm conditions mean certain regions have begun implementing hosepipe restrictions, and this could become a more frequent occurrence.
Following a spell of favourable weather, a number of areas are now enforcing water usage limitations. Several suppliers have prohibited garden hoses entirely, while others have requested customers voluntarily cease such usage as they attempt to maintain financial stability. The phrase solvent proves rather appropriate when dealing with those selling water.
The reasoning appears reasonable at first glance. Temperatures have risen, storage facilities are under strain, and customers must lower consumption. Acceptable enough. The more difficult pill to swallow, however, involves being asked to decrease usage by organisations that collectively discard three billion litres daily through deteriorating infrastructure.
An average of three billion litres vanishes each day across England and Wales because of leaking pipes. If a person discovers a leak nearby, they might report it, though given current circumstances, keeping quiet and channelling that water into one’s own garden through a drainpipe would prove more beneficial.
Being instructed to reduce consumption by these profligate suppliers resembles hearing that Coleen Rooney had advised Wayne to monitor his expenditure more carefully.
Since the industry transferred to private ownership in 1989, water providers across England and Wales have distributed roughly £50 billion in shareholder dividends while simultaneously accumulating debts exceeding £56 billion. Had some of those funds been allocated towards maintenance and repairs instead, the situation would have been far healthier.
It seems peculiar that an enterprise can profit throughout most of the year from selling a substance essential for survival, yet the moment temperatures climb, they impose penalties for using it.
Practical alternatives do exist. Technically, identical quantities of water can reach your garden via a watering vessel as through a hose, meaning the restriction essentially penalises ease of use.
Should hotter conditions become the norm, the country must develop infrastructure capable of withstanding such demand. Pipes must actually deliver water reliably to enable proper usage.
With reports emerging about efforts to restrict air conditioning installation, the outlook suggests increasingly warm and arid conditions with limited recourse available.
Steve Allen operates as a comedian, broadcaster and writer; for additional content, listeners can access his podcast ‘Steve N Allen Almost Daily’.