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Britain Could Run Short of Water by 2050, Official Says (nytimes.com)
To the casual observer, Britain -- an island nation that's no stranger to rain -- could not get much wetter. From a report: But, as it turns out, that's a fallacy. And if preventive steps are not taken, in less than three decades, Britain might run out of water, the chief executive of the Environment Agency, a public body responsible for conservation in England, said on Tuesday. "On the present projections, many parts of our country will face significant water deficits by 2050, particularly in the southeast, where much of the U.K. population lives," the agency chief, James Bevan, said at a conference on water use.
In about 20 to 25 years, demand could close in on supply in what Mr. Bevan called "the jaws of death -- the point at which, unless we take action to change things, we will not have enough water to supply our needs." The reasons, he said, were climate change and population growth. And he called for a change of attitude toward water conservation to help tackle the problem. "We need water wastage to be as socially unacceptable as blowing smoke in the face of a baby or throwing your plastic bags into the sea," Mr. Bevan said. Many in Britain, citing the often rainy weather and expressing frustration with the infamously high levels of leakage from underground pipes, tend to belittle warnings about water shortages.
In about 20 to 25 years, demand could close in on supply in what Mr. Bevan called "the jaws of death -- the point at which, unless we take action to change things, we will not have enough water to supply our needs." The reasons, he said, were climate change and population growth. And he called for a change of attitude toward water conservation to help tackle the problem. "We need water wastage to be as socially unacceptable as blowing smoke in the face of a baby or throwing your plastic bags into the sea," Mr. Bevan said. Many in Britain, citing the often rainy weather and expressing frustration with the infamously high levels of leakage from underground pipes, tend to belittle warnings about water shortages.
A perfect application for solar energy for a place surrounded by ocean... not seeing any real issue here that isn't readily solvable with known tech. And it's not like they have to transition to getting all their water that way, just some percent on the order of a tenth or so
And they're surrounded by water.
Water shortage? Please!
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
"We need water wastage to be as socially unacceptable as blowing smoke in the face of a baby or throwing your plastic bags into the sea,"
At least I'm socially acceptable.
I only blow smoke in plastic bags and throw babies into the sea!
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Since when is it socially unacceptable to blow smoke in the face of a baby?
Do you even know what that baby said?
Seems to me both Scotland and Wales will be fine.
Maybe once the rest of the UK becomes Lesser Britain, you can invest you post-Brexit riches in water desalination plants, like they do in Santa Barbara?
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The heading should be "South East Britain Will Run Short of Water Most Years".
Endless building, removal of local drainage, and the fact that it doesn't rain all that much down there is starting to tell. Round here in the North West we have more water than we can use - now if there was an Environmental Agency with the vision to implement a national water grid things might be better. Unfortunately the Agency is toothless and more concerned with leaving waterways to get clogged up and causing widespread flooding.
Phil.
...said no scientist.
Asshole anonymous cowards keep posting these purported "predictions" which are in fact made up completely.
First rule of /.: if an anonymous coward posts something, more than likely it's bullshit.
Michael Burry (one of the people that foresaw problems with subprime mortgages and made money from it) is investing in water futures....
https://www.retire.ly/burry-go...
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
scientists: by 2050 Britain may run out of water...
british: *shrug*
scientists: Tea...is made with water...
british:: GOD SAVE THE QUEEN WE MUST ACT.
scotland:: kicks in the door AEY IS NO EVEN A QUESHUN DIDNYE KNOW BEER COME FROM WA'UH LADS
Good people go to bed earlier.
Britain has old pipes. Most water loss is through those pipes leaking. Replace the pipes and the outcome will be water security and a few years of massive road blockages as they dig up every road.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
What we need is for having more than 2 kids to be as socially unacceptable as thievery.
This article is about Britain. In Britain, the total fertility rate was 1.76 children per woman (per 2017 data). Since replacement rate is 2.1, this means that the intrinsic population growth is negative.
...As is, having more than 2 kids is actually celebrated by most people. "Wow, you have 5 kids! Good on you! Must be a lot of effort!"
I can't think of anybody in my social circle who would say that. Where do you live?
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/b...
Thankfully, Britain will be able to easily import more water from their continental friends. Oh, wait...
...who predicted the end of Snow in Britain?
Holy fuck. Enough with these stupid, alarmist and unsupported "predictions"
Hey, at least they have water and whiskey or scotch.
No wonder they're leaving you after Brexit.
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Idiot activist says something idiotic...like polar ice caps could completely disappear by 2004.
The AGW activist community repeats again and again.
It makes its way into official reports
News papers publish breathless articles.
People chain themselves to shit in protest.
Scientists say nothing
When the idiot prediction fails, activists mutter, "..said no scientist."
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
People don't seem to realize how little clean water there is.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
Don't worry, the European Union will help out ... oh, wait
Table-ized A.I.
Britain has plenty of rain, but you can't get that much of it through British plumbing. Worldwide, the range of coastal cities that will eventually need to start using desalination may be a lot larger than we once thought.
"not seeing any real issue here that isn't readily solvable with known tech"
Sure, they could desalinate ocean water with known tech. That has been possible for over a century. The bigger issue is can they do it and not have water cost much much more than it does today.
Ninjas don't carry tic tacs
The previous poster said "they", not "we", suggesting that he or she is not British... I'm pretty sure that you need to be a citizen of the UK to receive knighthood.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Fair correction. Thanks.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Britain is surrounded by water, true, but it doesn't get sunshine...
If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down?!
I have all kinds of water saving ideas. There's more if you need them, just ask.
That's what countries without such a generous rain supply have done.
...when the water utility companies are private, profit-making entities, enabled by ideologically- and financially-motivated politicians.
Investment in infrastructure - fixing leaks and properly managing reservoirs - does not enhance shareholder value or executive bonuses, and so doesn't happen.
It's not even possible to shame these companies into acting in the national interest, as their ultimate ownership is off-shore, so they don't care.
Even the governmental regulator operates in favour of the companies instead of the customers.
The situation is similar to the other utilities in the UK - gas, electricity and rail.
Unfortunately, without meaningful political change, there's no solution.
This sig left unintentionally blank.
The UK is surrounded by water, it would seem that reverse osmosis may be a possible solution but wasn't the UK just a few years ago suffering from massive flooding? Oh wait it just happened in parts of the UK
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
at least here in America. We've got a ton of wealthy plutocrats chompin' at the bit to sell us back the water they bought all the rights to.
Meanwhile California's got 6 desalinization plants doing fuck all and nobody's building more, even thought the entire west coast is about to run out of water. It's gonna be fun in a few years when you can buy a mansion in San Francisco for $100k because you spend $1 million/year bringing water in.
Sure, they'll fix it, 20 years after. You can't just spin up desalinization plants on the fly. It's not a web app. But like I said, somebody's gonna make a killing during those 20 years.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Elon's got more brains in his foreskin than you'll ever have.
"...The reasons, he said, were climate change and population growth...."
Really? Climate change means there's less water now?
Because JUST LAST YEAR I saw everyone complaining that Climate Change had caused TOO MUCH water and heavy rainfall/flooding generally, consistently, and broadly across the UK.
"...new Met Office report, based on figures stretching back 100 years to 1910- shows that rainfall has actually gone up by 8 percent. ...The annual State of the UK Climate Report also revealed UK summers have been notably wetter over the last decade from 2008 to 2017, with 20 per cent more rainfall compared to 1961-1990...."
https://www.express.co.uk/news...
Oh, also, since they're focusing on the South and East of England, also last year: ...also predicted heavier and more frequent rain across southern England.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ne...
So which is it? Climate change means the UK is running out of water, OR climate change means the UK is flooding with water. You really can't assert both.
-Styopa
https://newatlas.com/crops-engineered-need-less-water/53712/
Scientists have revealed that a simple genetic tweak to overexpress a single protein in crops could result in the plants needing up to 25 percent less water to produce a regular yield. It's hoped the breakthrough research will lead to a new generation of water-efficient agriculture that helps communities grow more food in areas struggling with drought and climate change.
Ok, it's not like this problem has not been researched before. Would help with California's drought problems also.
Anonymous comments are as pathetic as the anonymous "sources" that contaminate gutless journalism from the New York Time
A perfect application for solar energy for a place surrounded by ocean...
Making more potable water is one approach. The other approach is to reduce the population by getting everyone to emigrate. Given the way Brexit is going, it's clear the latter method was chosen.
This doesn't have to do with private ownership. And "shame" isn't required.
These are regulated utilities. The government enforces compliance and price setting. Pricing is where the problem is. If prices weren't set artificially low, the increased price would spur conservation and allow for increased capital expenditure on the infrastructure.
This isn't a UK-only problem, it happens all over. The price is determined by water delivery only, without account for loss due to leaks or exhaustion of the source. Regulators should allow for stepped pricing, based on usage and number of people in the household.
"I'm pretty sure that you need to be a citizen of the UK to receive knighthood."
No. Wikipedia: if you are a citizen of a nation which as head of state has the Queen of the United Kingdom then if you have a knighthood you can use the title of "Sir" (men) or "Dame" (women): hence Sir Sean Connery and Sir Andrew Wiles. If you are not a citizen of such a nation then you can still be given a knighthood, but it is honorary and you cannot use the title of "Sir" or "Dame", but you can use post-nominal letters: for example the musician Daniel Barenboim KBE is a Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
No one on earth is running out of water. They are running out of cheap water.
That's a self solving problem. Water costs go up, waste goes down.
. . . before someone figures out that Loch Ness contains more water than than all the lakes in England and Wales combined and tries to pipe it away. Of course, it's rather murky stuff from all the peat, hopefully it would never be worth it.
"Britain is surrounded by water, true, but it doesn't get sunshine"
- From A Song of the Weather by the British comedy songwriters and performers Flanders & Swann - the weather of the title is British weather:
In July the sun is hot?
Is it shining? No it's not.
Just as long as your really stupid and don't understand thermodynamics.
Emphasis mine.
People who never went to university can get honorary doctorates too... but it's not the same thing as a real one, and isn't treated the same either.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Rabbi, what are you doing here?
A perfect application for solar energy for a place surrounded by ocean... not seeing any real issue here that isn't readily solvable with known tech. And it's not like they have to transition to getting all their water that way, just some percent on the order of a tenth or so
Water desalinization is an energy intensive process. You either have to be in a desert or somewhere power is almost free to make it economical. And if its not economical, with water (not necessarily for other things but for water) that means more environmental damage. Water is heavy and thus expensive to transport unless you have a nice downhill run and a pipeline/aquifer system. Also you need A LOT of water so to do anything of consequence you need huge scale. Of course with nuclear this is possible, but probably not with solar as its not nearly energy dense enough.
On another note, when CA had a water crisis I looked into water usage. In CA water usage was about 90% for industry and 10% residential. Not sure what it is in the UK, but the point being all the conservation by normal folks didn't do a bit of good. It was all about big businesses fighting for control of water sources as they were doing things to convert water into money (mostly growing expensive nuts like Almonds and fracking natural gas). So I would take these warnings with a grain of salt. If you want to manage society-wide water usage, you need to limit industrial usage. And because that's almost all usage, that should fix the problems with long term management. And that has to be more politically palatable than wondering around and reporting your neighbors for watering their lawns.
"Those that start by burning books, will end by burning men."
You're quite right. The EU was indeed presented in a dishonest manner - since the 1950s - to get people to not realize they were headed into a corporatist superstate until it was too late. Except it wasn't, resulting in the disruptive process that you see unfolding.
Although in fairness, this can run in to problems and be seen as interfering with other countries: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...étien
In CA water usage was about 90% for industry and 10% residential.
California is largely agricultural, mostly using irrigation. How much of that 90% went to watering crops?
Good, inexpensive web hosting
OMIGOD, /. is so useless. Letâ(TM)s see if I can post a manually urlencoded version of that link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...
No, you can be knighted as a foreigner. However you can not use the title "Sir", e.g. Bill Gates is a "Knight of the British Empire".
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
Such "knighting" of people who are not subjects of the Crown is strictly an honorary recognition.
You can get an honorary doctorate from a university in some circustances too... but it does not have all of the same implications as the real deal nor is it treated the same.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
it is energy intensive but solar power level even in UK can do it. There is no problem just engineering issue
What has thermodynamics to do with your parents post?
Perhaps you want to fresh up your knowledge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
Water from air is redicolously inefficient and dumb.
Rei.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
In CA water usage was about 90% for industry and 10% residential. California is largely agricultural, mostly using irrigation. How much of that 90% went to watering crops?
It changes from year to year often based upon the amount of rain. For a drought year, the numbers I posted are accurate and Ag would be probably 2/3ish of the total water usage. For a wet year, Ag usage drops some but not as much as you would think. I think my point was more about industrial usage often being so high in comparison with residential usage. I wouldn't be surprised if the UK is surprisingly similar but just with industrial usages taking the place of Ag. But then again, you can google that for yourself if you are so inclined. I'm not your data elf. Perhaps the UK is very different as it does have 5x the population on not much more land than CA. Its pretty scary when your residential usage is taking a large amount of water even in wet years.
"Those that start by burning books, will end by burning men."
By 2050, the cost of desalinated water could be quite reasonable. However, we need to start soon, and incentivize appropriate technologies. Reverse Osmosis plants will always be high maintenance, and use electricity which is expensive and wasteful. Multi-Effect Distillation uses half the electricity of RO, plus some thermal energy, which can be supplied by heat rejected from power plants, that would otherwise go to waste.
The key is to combine the processes, which will decrease the cost of both electricity and co-products like desalinated water. Since thermal plants are typically 30-60% efficient in generating electricity, there are large opportunities for making use of that heat for industrial processes. High temperature nuclear reactors are especially attractive, and offer more options for co-generation, including synthetic fuels and ammonia. This also allows reactors to run continuously at 100% power, while adapting to demand by varying generation of co-products.
The economics favor coupling co-generation to reliable sources of energy. Using excess renewable capacity is substantially more challenging, and of questionable benefit. For such plants to be cost effective, they can't be sitting idle most of the time, waiting for sporadic bursts of energy.
And what has that to do with thermodynamics?
BTW: you are wrong anyway ...
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
Every knight is just a "honorary recognition" ... there is no difference between an UK citizen becoming a knight or a non citizen.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
Oh, you want UK news? LOL
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ne...
Then why are the growing areas in Canada and the US these "places that are mostly vertical". Like the West?
Methinks you need to reread your history books, friendo.
Regardless, we were talking about a lack of water in the areas other than those with sizable hills. The basic solutions come down to: desalination, water conservation (e.g. not watering during hours when the evaporation is higher, using drip irrigation, and not growing water intensive crops you can't sustain), and less animal husbandry (mostly cattle of any type, sheep and goats use a lot less water).
You'd know that if you took some basic sustainability courses.
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I know this site can be slow sometimes, but it's the first time I've seen a post from 1948.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Plenty of cities in England get over 1600 hours of sunlight a year... that's enough
Plenty of cities in England get over 1600 hours of sunlight a year... that's enough
I lived in England for 20 years. You can't kid me. It's true that sometimes the clouds opened up and we got a few rays of sunshine, but that was mostly only at night.
It takes great amounts of energy to condense water and there is very little water even in humid air. And you still have to purify it. It will always by more costly and less efficient than the alternatives.
Erm. Sean Connery is (or at least was) a citizen of the UK.
You do realise Scotland is part of the UK?
There's a far simpler approach to population control that disadvantages nobody: Reduce net immigration.
It says nothing nice about you that your immediate thought was instead killing and sterilising people.
In Britain, the total fertility rate was 1.76 children per woman
Look deeper and that changes significantly according to demographic. But you're not allowed to explore and discuss that.
I'll get more fucking water sticking a bucket in the garden than relying on solar power here.
Erm. UK population is 66 million.
I'd fucking love to get it back down to under 60 million. It'd solve many issues, primarily infrastructure related due to overpopulation.
and a few years of massive road blockages
So no change really then.
Actually, I am completely against population control. Who the fuck are you to tell me I can't have children. But hey, you can wrap that tin foil hat even tighter.
Anonymous comments are as pathetic as the anonymous "sources" that contaminate gutless journalism from the New York Time
I'm not telling you that you can't have children. I just don't want to pay for your child support payments, your children's education, your childcare tax credits or your family's NHS costs.
I also don't want the population to reach levels that cause detriment to everybody. That's the difference between us, you're a "me me me" selfish cunt and I'm looking out for the country at large.
there are tables of sunshine for major cities, it's been collected and archived for over a century. In the old days was via lens charing arc with sunlight on paper each day.
So believe it or not, for this particular problem of only making up a water deficit there is enough sunlight to do the job via solar power, even in jolly old English cities. Some of your cities even have over 1800 hours a year of sunshine...
He fucked of to Shpain ages ago becaush the taxesh were lower.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
But it will stimulate the economy :)
But it will stimulate the economy :)
In an inappropriate brexity sort of way.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
Slashdot moderation may have become the worst aspect of Slashdot. The trolls are much more motivated to abuse the system than normal people are to defend it. In addition, the broken economic models of Slashdot render it impossible to support the kind of improvements that would be required to address the problem, essentially by reducing the value of troll identities below others.
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.