Environment Agency issue flood warnings...in drought areas...

[dave87]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17836246

Seems that we have so much of a drought problem that we have a risk of flooding. Right.


Yes I know it's probably because it is the wrong type of rain or somesuch....

[Zadock]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17836246

Seems that we have so much of a drought problem that we have a risk of flooding. Right.


Yes I know it's probably because it is the wrong type of rain or somesuch....

Yes there is wrong types of rain, heavy rain results in fast flowing run off that doesn't permeate land very well and some of the problem is of our own making, we modify the land quite a lot and alter its permeability. We urbanise land for example which increases run off.

[pollaxe]

Says it all, really.

[shaithis]

Wrong type of rain? That was always railtracks excuse for cancelling a train!

Personally, I am happy to see the rain. Burrator reservoir was getting quite low and South West water have a bad track record.....I'd rather have a few weeks of rain instead of months of hose-pipe bans and do-gooders telling me not to waste the water I am paying through the nose for!

[Zadock]

Wrong type of rain? That was always railtracks excuse for cancelling a train!

Personally, I am happy to see the rain. Burrator reservoir was getting quite low and South West water have a bad track record.....I'd rather have a few weeks of rain instead of months of hose-pipe bans and do-gooders telling me not to waste the water I am paying through the nose for!

You are paying rates rather than having metered usage I take it?

We do take our water supply forgranted IMO,and that is probably why we make such a fuss when things like this happen. Many countries are lucky to get rain once a year!

I suspect that the water companies don't do half as much as they could do to maximise rain water harvesting, might avoid the "wrong type of rain scenario" if it was being captured and stored the right way.

[Smudger]

There's also the fact that a large percentage of the water they collect is lost through leakages etc, as they put profit ahead of leak-fixing...

[TeePee]

I'm still waiting on some London Floods I was reliably told about.

[Knoxville]

Let it pour and disappear so long as I can still turn on a tap and expect results, English conversation would be nowhere without the weather

[DDY]

I suspect that the water companies don't do half as much as they could do to maximise rain water harvesting, might avoid the "wrong type of rain scenario" if it was being captured and stored the right way.

I don't think water authorities can do anything remotely useful with rainwater harvesting even if they wanted to, how exactly could they intercept the rain itself? To harvest any reasonable amount of rain they'd need a heck of a surface area.

Rainwater harvesting is best done on smaller scales, e.g. at home where it could be used to flush toilets, water the garden or even wash your clothes. On the topic of using alternative sources of water in the house, there is also greywater recycling; greywater is the wastewater that comes from your house except from the toilet, this stuff is relatively clean and with a bit of treatment can also be used to flush toilets etc. Considering how much water we use for flushing toilets (30%) and personal washing (40%), if we reused all the greywater from the sink, bath and shower to flush the toilet we'd reduce our water usage by a third.

I could go on, but what I’m alluding to; we as the public could do a lot more to reduce the amount of water we use rather than leaving it to the water authorities who have it hard enough as it is.

Check out the Environment Agency website, it has lots of greywater recycling and rainwater harvesting info if you're interested.

[Zadock]

I don't think water authorities can do anything remotely useful with rainwater harvesting even if they wanted to, how exactly could they intercept the rain itself? To harvest any reasonable amount of rain they'd need a heck of a surface area.

Rainwater harvesting is best done on smaller scales, e.g. at home where it could be used to flush toilets, water the garden or even wash your clothes. On the topic of using alternative sources of water in the house, there is also greywater recycling; greywater is the wastewater that comes from your house except from the toilet, this stuff is relatively clean and with a bit of treatment can also be used to flush toilets etc. Considering how much water we use for flushing toilets (30%) and personal washing (40%), if we reused all the greywater from the sink, bath and shower to flush the toilet we'd reduce our water usage by a third.

I could go on, but what I’m alluding to; we as the public could do a lot more to reduce the amount of water we use rather than leaving it to the water authorities who have it hard enough as it is.

Check out the Environment Agency website, it has lots of greywater recycling and rainwater harvesting info if you're interested.

Yeah, you are right... I wasn't considering all the other things they have to worry about (infrastructure etc).

There could be some relief for them though. The Flood Water Management Act 2010, I believe, introduces SuDS (sustainable urban drainage systems) as a compulsory feature of new developments? (which I think comes into force aroud now). So we should see more rain water harvesting as part of new developments. Retro-fitting existing properties and developments on the other hand can get expensive.

[TheAnimus]

There's also the fact that a large percentage of the water they collect is lost through leakages etc, as they put profit ahead of leak-fixing...

Actually, that isn't really a bad thing.

For example we loose electricity during power transmission, but no one cares, because most people are aware of the piratical limitations.

Water pipe work often means massive disruption to roads, is not only inconvient but complex expensive work.

The problem is we've had migration and immigration, with the water companies not having any long term commitments to provide increased usage.

If your going to have privatisation on this, then you should have a market which deals with the forcasting of demand on the 15-25y scale.....

[DDY]

Yeah, you are right... I wasn't considering all the other things they have to worry about (infrastructure etc).

There could be some relief for them though. The Flood Water Management Act 2010, I believe, introduces SuDS (sustainable urban drainage systems) as a compulsory feature of new developments? (which I think comes into force aroud now). So we should see more rain water harvesting as part of new developments. Retro-fitting existing properties and developments on the other hand can get expensive.

There is IMO a lack of legislative drivers in the UK to promote water recycling, not only because we compare very badly both in terms of legislation and our efforts in water recycling compared to other countries, for example Germany despite suffering far fewer water resource related problems that we do.

As for SUDS and the FWM 2010, the two aren't particularly useful to promote or encourage water recycling, while SUDS offers guidelines on the possible application of recycled water for irrigation it doesn't make it mandatory or set specific rules. While I believe the FWM 2010 and SUDS is a step in the right direction for urban water management it doesn't do much if anything to encourage water recycling, but that's not a fault of the FWM since it was drafted in response to a flood rather than a water shortage!

[Andeh13]

Why should we recycle water when the likes of thanes water loose 25% of it from their shoddy pipes?

[DDY]

Why should we recycle water when the likes of thanes water loose 25% of it from their shoddy pipes?

Because we can recycle water but can't fix pipes.

We've gotta do our bit.

Besides, it's not easy keeping hundreds of miles of pipe in perfect condition, especially considering what we pay - which is low if you compare it to our neighbors..

[Andeh13]

I do my bit....i pay my bills! I pay for the water I use, simples.

Some leakage is expected but 25% is a farce! Why should we make up for their incompetence?

[TheAnimus]

For example we loose electricity during power transmission, but no one cares, because most people are aware of the piratical limitations.

Water pipe work often means massive disruption to roads, is not only inconvient but complex expensive work.

Why should we recycle water when the likes of thanes water loose 25% of it from their shoddy pipes?

sigh, that is only double the loss of a low voltage power user. Yet your not banging on about them are you?

Come on guys, we can be objective.....