NationStates Jolt Archive

Something to think about: In the south of England they have imposed hose pipe bans and compulsory waters meters because of the low levels of water in reservoirs. This has been blamed on low rain fall. No mention is given to lack of new reservoirs to cope with an increasing demand or the massive waste through leakage.

The national rivers authority is now considering charging water companies in the north of England more to extract water from the reservoirs they built with money from northern consumers to subsidise repair work in the south of England. The same sort of work water companies in the north had already carried out and paid for by northern consumers.

Now there is even talk of plans being put in place long term to pipe water from the north to the south.

So what provisions are there to pipe better weather to the north rather than all the rain we get?
What plans are there to pipe heat from the south in winter?
How are the power companies going to subsidise the fuel bills of those in the north?
Basically what I am saying is if the water situation is not fair and we need to ‘even things up’ why does this not apply to all aspect of north south differences?

If they stopped the pipes leaking it might improve a bit.

If they stopped the pipes leaking it might improve a bit.
privatised water companies are so efficient.

lol. Water shortage in England?

Heh, we have permanent restrictions here.

All water pipes leak. Whether it be fresh water or water for district heating, a rough 10% is always lost somewhere.

Well, if they stopped being so stingy and forgetting to do maintenance, that's what happens. The entire piping system needs work, what to do if they don't? Use less water, but really there is enough water if you don't waste it or don't bother to stop leakages. I did hear the leakages there were due to ancient piping systems which are not coping with population growth.

-snip-

Seems more like you just want to get even with the south than practicality. The energy benefits to the north in winter if electricity were transported from the south would have little effect - a lot of energy would be needed to actually contruct and transport it.

No not really. What I am saying is that it appears that because it is wetter in the north than the south, it is ok for the north to help the south. But the fact that it is also colder in the north is not taken into account.
I thought we had a national grid for the electricity so transport would not be a problem.

But what I am pointing out is that the north has heavily invested in the water infrastructure in the past and funded it. Now because the water companies in the south did not do so the companies in the north are being asked to cover the poor planning and help subsidise the southern companies.

This is nothing to do with the people. What I object to is the distortion of this supposed free market economy operating with the water supplies.

Of course the obvious solution is to jack up Scotland by a couple of foot, thus causing water to naturally flow southwards.

I will be forwarding an invoice for my expertise to the usual address for this one.

No not really. What I am saying is that it appears that because it is wetter in the north than the south, it is ok for the north to help the south. But the fact that it is also colder in the north is not taken into account.
I thought we had a national grid for the electricity so transport would not be a problem.

But what I am pointing out is that the north has heavily invested in the water infrastructure in the past and funded it. Now because the water companies in the south did not do so the companies in the north are being asked to cover the poor planning and help subsidise the southern companies.

This is nothing to do with the people. What I object to is the distortion of this supposed free market economy operating with the water supplies.

Very observant, however the current national grid distributes electricity from the power stations to various houses, factories, etc. and does not have the capacity to pump a large amount of electricity from a large area to another.
Regardless of the southern water companies actions in the past, the south still needs water - and the north's greater amount of rainwater, could be a suitable short term solution. Although I do agree that its inconvenitent and seems unfair - the equivalent to your younger brother running out of lunch money and asking for some more - the south shouldn't have to exchange for a vital resource, especially within the same country.

Of course the obvious solution is to jack up Scotland by a couple of foot, thus causing water to naturally flow southwards.

I will be forwarding an invoice for my expertise to the usual address for this one.

Its already hhappening :eek: http://earth.unh.edu/esci409/docs2006/post-glacial%20rebound.pdf
Post-glacial rebound

You realise that underground services maintenance is essentially impossible in the Greater London area? The real problem is that there are too many people in too small an area, and technological / ecological limits have been hit.

How I love living in the Great Lakes region.

As a representative of Canada I'd be happy to sell you brits some icebergs at a very competitive price.

Leakages have actually fallen by around 20% since 93. The problem isn't really waste in terms of leaks, but rather waste in terms of use. Since 93 household water use has climbed from 140 litres per person to 150.

I fully support mandatory water meters and any subsidies to promote water saving techniques.

As for piping water down to the south in relation to piping heat up to North. I presumes water companies would have to pay for the water that was piped south and would pass on any increase in costs on to their customers. Which is also another reason to support mandatory water metres. If the middle class of the South East are determined to use so much water then they can pay for it by the litre rather than a single monthly charge.
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/commondata/figureimages/i3_w_abst_b1_fs_132254.gif
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/commondata/figureimages/i4_w_abst_p9_fs_131427.gif

Something to think about: In the south of England they have imposed hose pipe bans and compulsory waters meters because of the low levels of water in reservoirs. This has been blamed on low rain fall. No mention is given to lack of new reservoirs to cope with an increasing demand or the massive waste through leakage.

The national rivers authority is now considering charging water companies in the north of England more to extract water from the reservoirs they built with money from northern consumers to subsidise repair work in the south of England. The same sort of work water companies in the north had already carried out and paid for by northern consumers.

Now there is even talk of plans being put in place long term to pipe water from the north to the south.

So what provisions are there to pipe better weather to the north rather than all the rain we get?
What plans are there to pipe heat from the south in winter?
How are the power companies going to subsidise the fuel bills of those in the north?
Basically what I am saying is if the water situation is not fair and we need to ‘even things up’ why does this not apply to all aspect of north south differences?

I don't think that they can realistically pump all that water down south; it doesn't make economic sense. I think they should just charge people in the south more tax on their water.

I was under the impression that most of the water was pumped south to customers, simply due to population distribution.

I believe the Highlands of Scotland.
...or they their tap water is saline.