Belated Plans by Thames Water to move Water from West of Britain Welcomed

GMB (UK) have welcome belated plans by Thames Water to move water from west of Britain as south east and east of England households face hose pipe ban.

There is no shortage of water in Britain but there is a shortage of structures that can make decisions to get the water to where it is needed and this is a small step in the right direction but comes too late to help consumers says GMB. GMB, the water workers union, commented on reports that 20 million people in the South East and East of England will face a hose pipe ban within the next few weeks and on a statement by Thames Water that they will move water from the west of Britain.

GMB has consistently said that there is no shortage of water in Britain only a lack of capacity to get the water from where it is plentiful to areas where it is scarce. GMB’s position has been ignored by water companies and the government until now. No plans have been made to increase the supply of water to the South East and East of England until now which is too late to solve the problem and avoid the ban. The media reports; Thames Water says it’s considering using water from the River Severn to supply London in the event of a drought this summer. The company which supplies 8 million homes in and around the capital is also looking at restoring disused canals to transport the water, spokesman Richard Aylard says that will be a lot cheaper than laying new pipes.

The government’s White Paper on water supply called for the introduction of a ‘market’ for water for households. GMB dismissed this as irrelevant and called on all concerned to recognise that water is a natural monopoly. In 2006 GMB put back on the table plans from the former Water Resources Board to import water from the west of Britain to those parts where it is scarce. GMB also published a paper dated 18th November 2011 by Barry Rydz, a retired official of the old Water Resources Board, which sets out again the case for water to be transferred from the west of Britain to the South East and Eastern England and identifies a number of ways of doing this.