http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17340844

Now, call me ignorant or something, but we LIVE ON AN ISLAND. Last time I went to the seaside there was a lot of water there sloshing around doing nothing particularly useful. Surely if we are to be suffering drought after drought, we’d be investing in desalination plants and taking water from the sea?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2 ... tion-plant

also water stored in Wales is at 95% capacity and in Scotland it is at 93% capacity
there is no water shortage just the lack of will moving the resources by the national water network ...

Oh for the love of God! There needs to be contingency plans for this kind of problem and as above, we shouldn't be experiencing droughts any more than we should be experiencing regular blackouts.

Exactly. The intertia is caused, in my opinion, because the water companies are privately owned. Another national infrastructure asset owned by profit-making entities whose sole reason to exist is to make money and pay dividends to their shareholders.

I believe that this is the problem too. Getting company A to share with company B is never going to work. Things like this should not nationalised, not privately owned.

Not really true that, HK.

There were numerous proposed National Grid-type schemes long before the system was privatised. However they're massively expensive and every government to whom they're proposed has always chickened out. If elected governments couldn't be bothered, why should private companies be?

The problem arises because there are too many people in the south-east. The solution is a ban on new buildings & businesses in the SE and for the rest of the UK to get some of the wealth for once.

Boo. That stopped my anti-privatisation rant in its tracks.

You are right, of course. Too many people, not enough will to sort it out. If a southern water company did, guess who would foot the bill.

After record low levels of 30% at the main dam for Sydney, the government at the time pushed through a desal plant. Paid for by private finance it will now running at a guaranteed minimum of it's capacity for many years. Over the last few weeks record rainfalls have pushed the dam well past capacity and the surplus is currently flooding the state whilst the desal plant is still operating.

Perhaps there may be a need for it when La Nina makes way for El Nino again in the next few years, but at least if it was public they could just turn it off.

They should put everyone on a meter - then those that use/waste the most, pay the most.

There is no water shortage, the population is just too high in the south.

and in the south where most of the customers for the private water company's reside is generated most of the private water company's profits
if a private company is not going to supply goods/services where it can generate the most profit should that private company continue to exist

i forgot, i cant change to a different private water company i can only use the private company that supply's my area so the private company's have everyone over a barrel
but the supplied resource is abundant within mainland UK and around its shores but private company's refuse to use/transport/update/invest in the logistical requirements of supplying their costumers with the goods/services which they pay for upfront on an annual basis.



if water meters are going to be the magic wand that will fix this logistical supply problem and this logistical supply problem has been deliberately created by these same private company's why will the private water company's not fit this magic wand remedy at there own expense ...

Most companies are considered a huge success if people are buying what they sell faster than they can ship it. Massive queues on launch day of the the new iPhone..?

Water provision is a natural monopoly & thus the private sector should have no hand in it.

sorry but was editing my post while you where replying ...

Yes, that really makes me mad. I can change Electric or Gas any time I like, but it still comes down the same pipe!