United Utilities (UU) is consulting customers over its plans to tackle future droughts in the North- west.
According to the company, its Drought Plan lays out in comprehensive detail what measures it will take and when it will take them in order to protect critical water supplies while decreasing the effect on the environment. This could, depending on the situation, possibly also include things such as drought orders, hosepipe bans, or water restrictions.
The Drought Plan includes a range of Drought Management Actions including:
- Communication Actions
- Demand Side Actions (Water Efficiency Campaigns, Voluntary Water Use Restrictions, Temporary Use Bans, Drought Order to ban non-essential use)
- Drought Permit/Order Actions
- Leakage Actions
- Operational Actions
- Supply Side Actions (non-commissioned sources, tankering)
The North-west last had a drought in 2010, during which the company imposed the first ban to help preserve water that the region had seen in 14 years in the form of a six-week hosepipe ban in parts of the region. These actions were sufficient to make a difference.
According to United Utilities’ head of water resources, Dr Richard Blackwell, with some of the most precious and protected habitats in the UK and seven million customers, the North-west had its own unique issues.
Blackwell stated, “Despite having a reputation for wet weather, the North-west is not immune to the risk of drought. Droughts can happen at any time of year and they’re all different. We have to be able to cope with anything. We are quite unique in that 90% of all our drinking water in the North-west comes from reservoirs and rivers, rather than groundwater sources. The rest of the UK only gets an average of 60% of its water from reservoirs and rivers.”
United Utilities’ consultation with its customers on the Drought Plan closes on 14 November, 2016.
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