The recent heatwave has put huge pressure on water resources and water companies. The BBC reported that water providers across the west are urging customers to use water responsibly “for the benefit of everyone”. They warned that an “extraordinary” demand due to the hot weather could see a drop in water pressure and potentially affect the taste of water.

At this time, providers said they are not expecting to bring in restrictions. Bristol Water, which supplies about 500,000 homes and businesses in the city and surrounding counties, said: “With the weather getting warmer, you may experience a drop in water pressure, especially during peak times.” It said water supplies might be temporarily redirected so customers’ water comes from different treatment works or reservoirs than usual. “This may mean you notice your water tastes a little bit different to normal,” it added.

Meanwhile, water use in the Thames Water area soared to its highest level for over 25 years over last weekend, currently using an extra 300 million litres of water a day, it said.

Affinity Water said “urgent action” was needed in areas of Essex and Hertfordshire to “conserve reservoir supplies for everyone”. The water supplier said recent water demand had surged from 209 million gallons (950 million litres) a day to 242 million gallons (one billion litres) due to the hot weather. It added it was “working around the clock to maintain supplies”. Some areas of Buckinghamshire, Surrey and North London are also affected.

Anglian Water said it was confident it had solutions to long-term shortages and “must be more robust towards drought”. They said it was taking “the long-term view” to ensure supplies for its 4.3 million customers. That included building two reservoirs and re-using more sewage water. The company, which operates across eastern England, said sea water de-salination plants were “not high in our priorities” at this time.

Anglian Water’s main region covers Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Rutland and Suffolk, and it also supplies water in Hartlepool in north-east England. Previously it has said that it could have a water deficit of hundreds of millions of litres a day by the 2050s. The firm was planning on building two new reservoirs – in south Lincolnshire and the Cambridgeshire Fens – and would continue to re-use more water from the sewer network after treatment. It was also working to reduce the amount of water lost from leaks in its pipe network, it said.

Finally, parts of a village totally submerged last century when a new reservoir was created have re-emerged as water levels drop in the hot weather. Usually underwater, remnants of West End have now appeared again at North Yorkshire’s Thruscross Reservoir. The derelict village was consumed by the waters of the new reservoir when it was constructed in the 1960s.

No Comment

Comments are closed.