England’s homes and businesses could face having their water supplies cut off in times of severe drought, if the water industry does not improve infrastructure and water efficiency.
This is the stark finding of a report – Preparing for a drier future: England’s water infrastructure needs – published today by the National Infrastructure Commission – the body set up to make recommendations to Government about the country’s long term infrastructure needs.
England’s water network is already under strain. A fifth of the country’s supply is lost each day to water leakages – almost 3,000 million litres – and over the past two decades the amount families consume each day has reduced by less than 10 litres per person, per day.
Commission chairman Sir John Armitt said a twin-track approach of improving infrastructure and reducing leakage as well as encouraging households and businesses to reduce their demand needs to happen to ensure the network is fit to meet future pressures from climate change and an increasing population.