Drought heading to West Berkshire - time for Thames Water to step up

The recent announcement by Thames Water shows that groundwater levels in the Thames area is lower than during the 1976 drought. This is compounded with low rainfall over the past couple of years. They admitted that drought was inevitable and “it's a case of when and how bad”.

I've already covered the 'for profit' nature of the business and this investment required to fix leaking pipes, to make more efficient use of resources and to invest in the future; is based totally on our ability to pay up front for the investment.

Thames Water and the other utilities must work to ensure we make the most out of our precious resources. It's time Thames Water stepped up and lets see some real give back from Thames Water. Adrian Hollister's 2p worth of advise for Thames Water is:

1. Grey Water(1). Work with new builds, rentals and renovations to ensure that grey water is installed in houses by default. If 5% of our water consumption could be replaced by grey water systems, the net saving (in terms of extraction, processing, pumping, loss and any household net savings i.e. low lime scale) would be significant.
2. Smarter working. Increase the roll-out of smart meters to all homes. Help home owners/businesses to use water more efficiently and pay for school education on the issues. Use smart meters on junctions points to automatically monitor flow and identify leaks/fraud.
3. Fix Leaks. Reducing general leakage by just 1% would save millions of litres a day. Thames Water's targets for leak reduction must be accelerated.

(1)Grey water systems use rain water and other untreated household waste water (such as water from showers) to flush toilets, feed washing machines and other not for human consumption systems.

Posted by Adrian Hollister