Green Party co-leader
Adrian Ramsey has called for action to be taken to stop 3 billion litres of
water being wasted every day as the households across the country face hosepipe
bans and water shortages.
He said,
“As the country faces a severe drought and people are asked to cut their water
use, more than three billion litres of clean water are wasted every day due to
a network of pipes riddled with leaks” [1].
Adding that the most wasteful water companies are losing
more water than they provide to their customers and that it was “hold the water
companies and the water regulator to account and see some firm action against
this scandal”.
The comments were made last week as the UK and the rest of
Europe sweltered through what experts have predicted could be the worst drought
since the sixteenth century.
Andrea Toreti, a senior researcher that the European
Commission’s Joint Research Centre which compiles data for the European Drought
Observatory (EDO) told Sky news "We haven't analysed fully the event but
based on my experience I think that this is perhaps even more extreme than in
2018” [2].
In 2018 exceptionally hot and dry weather caused crop yields
in Central and Northern Europe fall by 50%. The latest data gathered by the EDO
shows that 47% of the bloc’s territory was under ‘warning’ conditions due to
drought at the end of July, 17% was in the more serious ‘alert’ category where
crops are suffering.
The current heatwave in the UK is set to break with
forecasters predicting three days of thunderstorms. Although welcome the
resulting heavy rainfall may be too much too soon and cause further problems
due to flooding.
Met Office forecaster Dan Stroud told Sky News that "rain
from really intense downpours will be unable to soak into the baked ground
quickly" [3].
The Met Office has initiated a yellow weather warning for
all of England for Tuesday and in various places across the country between Monday
and Wednesday with floods, travel delays and power cuts being possible.
The Green Party are calling for measures including an
enforcement order to be placed on water companies to make them deal with leaks,
action on coastal pollution, cuts to pay for executives and an end to dividends
for shareholders.
Adrian Ramsey said, “We need Ofwat to apply an enforcement
order on companies to properly carry out their statutory functions which
includes ensuring that water actually reaches people’s homes and sewage doesn’t
go into watercourses or end up on our coastline”.
Adding that the water industry cannot “continue to be
rewarded for failure” and that the £57bn paid out in salaries and dividends
over the past thirty years should have been used to plug leaks and update
infrastructure.
The Green Party believe this will only happen when the
water industry is taken back into public ownership, and that this must be done at
“the earliest practicable opportunity.”
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