Drought

[waterman1013]

We can blame the water companies for many things but not for lack of planning for water resources.

 

Thames Water has had plans for a reservoir at Didcot for many years.

Has it got permission to build it?

No!

 

Thames Water has a plan for a desalination plant on the Tidal Thames.

Has it got permission to build it?

No!

 

Thames Water has plans for transfer systems for sewage across London to stop the Thames outflows.

Have they been given permission to build them?

No!

 

Who grants permission?

OFWAT.

 

Who appoints OFWAT?

Government ministers.

 

Blame politicians who cannot see further than the next election.

Blame Prescott, too busy screwing his secretary to notice he was also screwing the South East.

Blame Ken who opposes desalination because it will contribute too much CO2 to the atmosphere, regardless of plans to offset the CO2, and he does not believe the water companies should have been privatised and seeks to punish them for decisions taken by other politicians.

 

Interestingly many of the people I deal with in the water companies also believe they should never have been privatised. Again politicians decided that they should be so that politicians would not be blamed for the higher water charges which were inevitably going to happen when we finally started to replace what is primarily a Victorian system.

 

By all means blame the water companies for taking water near the head of the river and returning it in the lower reaches or tidal stretches.

 

Blame the water companies for taking water to feed the sewage system, treating the sewage and returning clean effluent to the sea or lower reaches, when it could be used throughout the water course at times of adequate flow to ensure dilution and add to the flow throughout the catchment.

 

But even if the system was re-nationalised the basic design would remain and the basic problems, highlighted by Brian, would remain.

 

All anglers can help to change outcomes by writing to their MPs asking for better management of the whole system, not just leaks, but more investment in future resource management, more investment in storage, more investment in sewage treatment and security for our rivers and lakes by putting water back where we need it, not adding it to the sea.

 

Andrew

 

The canals are not an answer for water transfer systems. Too many of them have rivers running in and out. The difference between water chemistry north and south would kill off most of the invertebrate life on which fish depend.

 

If we go for a water transfer system it needs to be dedicated to water supply, paid for by consumers, and not confused with recreational needs for boaters and anglers.

 

Ayjay

 

Water companies have a duty to monitor outflows from STWs (Sewage Treatment Works). The Environment Agency has done it in the past and have not been very good at reporting the facts. Now OFWAT has made the water companies solely responsible for monitoring and reporting their own failures to comply with consents.

 

You might agree with me that it seems like madness, but then if the industry was not founded on madness we would not have this thread and Brian would have had nothing to write about.

 

Mike

[Steve Walker]

Water companies have a duty to monitor outflows from STWs (Sewage Treatment Works). The Environment Agency has done it in the past and have not been very good at reporting the facts. Now OFWAT has made the water companies solely responsible for monitoring and reporting their own failures to comply with consents.

 

WHAT???

 

Oh, now that is disgusting. The only good to ever come from water privatisation was the separation of the roles of poacher and gamekeeper previously occupied by the water authorities.

 

Not happy about that at all.

[gozzer]

We had the chance to sort a lot of this out in the 70s. The revenue from North Sea Oil, was squandered on the destruction of industry, golden hand shakes and paying people to be out of work. The industry and manpower could have been used to rebuild the infrastructure of the country, which is still Victorian in parts. This would have cut down on the obscene wastage through leaking, ancient pipes.

[waterman1013]

Absolutely Steve, I could not agree with you more. We have been fighting it through the consultatives, NAFAC and FACT but without success.

 

Gozzer, that may be the case but we have to deal with where we are now, not where we might like to be. What has gone has gone. We need to deal with the issues confronted today and that means all of us need to be writing to our MPon the issues of managing water supplies and sewage.

 

Mike