Is Water Running Out?

In the UK we are complacent about our water. Our water is cheaper than in many countries and only 22% of domestic properties are metered. It is a tradition for our European neighbours to mock us for our wet summers. Yet in fact the UK is classified as a country with insufficient water. With population growth and therefore the need for more housing, demand for water is rising. Madrid and Istanbul have more water available per person than London.

During November 2009. Chris Smith, Rt. Hon. Speaking at the Cumberland Lodge conference "Hope in the Built Environment", Lord Smith of Finsbury, Chairman of the Environment Agency, endorsed the necessity for storage and re-use of rainwater. Lord Smith presented a coherent and positive picture of the UKís measures to mitigate the global warming effect. He confirmed the projections of the experts that temperatures will go up between 2 & 4 degrees Celsius before the next century, leading to floods, droughts, sea levels rising by up to one hundred metres, irreversible alterations to agricultural output and population movement as it searches for water (for instance to a country like the United Kingdom). Even sooner, by 2030, United Kingdom river flows will be reduced by 50 - 80%. He reiterated that, under these circumstances, water is now a limited resource.

Lord Smith's stance actively encourages both private and commercial property owners and developers to fit rainwater harvesting, meaning the collection of rainwater from roofs and storing water for washing clothes, watering gardens and flushing toilets. Because almost all of the rain which falls in the United Kingdom is wasted as it flows into the sea (less than 1% is collected by waterboards to purify, chlorinate and pipe to users), it is sensible to collect and utilise the water off your own roof. State-of-the-art rainwater systems, self-cleaning leaf filters, underground tanks where the cool temperature inhibits bacterial action and water discolouration, low- or zero-electrical-use pumps and equipment tags of only £1500-£3000 for a private house now make rainwater harvesting the best cost effective of the eco-products on the market. Property owners reduce their water bill by up to 50%, reduce their mains water use by about 50% and look to decreasing their unnecessary use of water... a scarce resource.

Christ Smith talked about the Code For Sustainable Homes which councils are employing to require new constructions to fit, as a portion of a points-scoring range of eco-feature, rainwater harvesting as a condition of planning permission. He acknowledged that the government's stance is more "stick" than "carrot" and he regretted that the Treasury continues to resist the reduction of VAT on rainwater equipment.