A combination of population growth and climate change could leave the UK with severe water shortages in the next 20 to 25 years. That's according to the head of the Environment Agency, James Bevan, who made the comments during a speech at the Waterwise Conference in London on March 19, 2019. Somewhat alarmingly, his speech was titled "escaping the jaws of death."
Concerns around impending water shortages in the UK have been increasing for some months now. In July, the Environment Agency released a report echoing Bevan's comments, which also found that climate change could affect the timing and quality of rainfall which goes into groundwater or river flows.
The looming shortages are down to two main reasons. The first one is population growth – as the population of the UK is predicted to increase to 75 million people by 2050, this will inevitably put a strain on resources such as water and energy. The average individual tends to use 150 litres of water a day, although a great amount of this can be water wastage – for example, through leaving the tap on while you brush your teeth, or having a longer shower.
The other element is climate change. As the years go by, the UK is projected to have hotter and drier summers, which will mean that the amount of water available will be reduced by 10 to 15 per cent. That could increase chances of a drought – naturally – but it could also mean that there’s more extreme, but less predictable rainfall.
The solutions thus far have been two pronged. “We have to look at it with a range of options – so increasing supply and reducing demand,” says Adrian Butler, who is a reader in the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London. “Reducing demand includes looking at leakage, which is a major challenge for Thameswater for example, as a quarter of their water supply is being lost.”
Charities such as Waterwise advise that people get their daily water usage down to 100 litres per day, which would have a big knock-on effect. Among the suggested interventions are shorter showers - such as setting a piece of music with a four or five minute duration to listen to throughout – as well opting for low flush toilets that use less water. “People should also get in touch with their water company, and see if they can swap to a water metre because that’s often been proven to reduce water consumption, at least initially too.”
“The water industry does plan on a 25 year timeline,” says Helen Gavin, who is a professor at Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute. “It means yes, we can build new infrastructure and desalination plants, but people can also take steps now to individualise and minimise the amount of water which they use. I do think we need a mixed bag of solutions.”
But Bevan's speech goes even further – suggesting that as a society we need to rethink our approach to water altogether. In California, when the droughts were at their peak, residents were encouraged to call a hotline if they saw water overuse, such as excessive watering of lawns.
Other interventions have happened with energy – for example, through the implementation of an energy efficiency code for newly built houses. Currently, there is no code of conduct for water efficient standards in new houses built in the UK, although this could be potentially attractive for buyers and keep bills down. However, these houses can come with water efficiency devices, already installed, whereas older houses face the problem of retrofitting, which can make them far less efficient.
“It’s also about education – we have to teach people that water doesn’t just fall from the sky,” says Butler. “Part of a project that I’m leading is about getting people involved in decision making, helping people understand what the impact of runoff is, helping them collect rainwater so they don’t draw from the mains.”
But individuals can only do so much if the problems are systemic. In the UK, much of the current infrastructure isn't very efficient – leaks are common and digging up the ancient pipes means diverting buses and disrupting transport. Regulators such as Ofwat, which regulates the water industry, are exploring different avenues to make water usage efficient. It selected a set number of schemes – around six – which it will be monitoring closely, to see what impact they have on water supply within the communities they serve. One such project is a pipe transferring water from the River Severn to the River Thames, which is considered a water-stressed area in the south east of England.
“The government is starting the process of changing how these large regional schemes are actually approved,” says Gavin. “Last summer, agriculture across the UK was suffering from a lack of water. But the government was trying to figure out why farmers weren’t more resilient – but they realised it actually isn’t easy to get those strategic, regional schemes through the planning process.”
However, big projects can be controversial. One of Bevan’s proposals is more reservoirs, as well as desalination plants. A reservoir in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, proposed by Thames Water, was put on hold after local groups raised doubts over its cost and the environmental damage it would create during construction. Desalination plants are also similarly contentious – for example, they require masses of energy to carry out the process of removing salt from water, which calls their energy efficiency into question.
When water shortages hit the state of California, urban residents had trouble being convinced to turn off their taps. Part of the problem, according to experts and city officials, was because they were so far away from their water sources – often located hundreds of miles out into the countryside – and didn’t see the havoc that water shortages were wreaking on agriculture and farms. While some of the infrastructure projects will remain contentious, experts in the area assert that there are individual changes which can at least save you money on your water bill, in addition to potentially being more efficient.
Perhaps the problem is that we've collectively forgotten what is was like to live before a time of abundant water. “I’m old enough to have been through the 1976 drought,” adds Butler. “Many people, thankfully, have no knowledge of having to go and get your water from a standpipe in the street. But once you’ve been through that, of course, you think, this is really valuable – this is something we have to value, it’s something we have a collective responsibility for.”
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
