Companhia de água inglesa se prepara para ordem de seca em Londres (em inglês)
2006-06-14
Thames Water will apply to the Government for a drought order to limit water
use in the capital, the company said today. If granted, the restrictions
will affect around five million customers in London.
The order will not apply to a further three million customers in the Thames
Valley where rainfall has been higher, the company said. But Thames Water
has not ruled out applying for a drought order extension to include that
area later in the year.
If granted, the drought order will be Englands fourth this year following
Sutton and East Surrey Water, Southern Water and Mid Kent Water which
already have them. It is the first application for such an order in London
since 1976.
Thames Water said the restrictions would be needed in the event of a hot,
dry summer but not if "normal" levels of summer rainfall occur. The
application is likely to outrage Thames Waters critics who say the company
loses too much water through leakages.
Labours Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, accused
Thames Water last month of making consumers pay for its "failings" - and of
losing 915 million litres of water per day.
If introduced, the restrictions could ban the use of hosepipes and
sprinklers to water public gardens, parks and golf courses. Filling private
swimming pools, washing the outside of buildings and washing windows with
hosepipes or sprinklers could also be stopped.
Jeremy Pelczer, chief executive officer of Thames Water, said the company
could need to implement the drought order in London by early August. "Mays
above-average rainfall dampened demand, boosted river flows and allowed us
to recharge reservoirs, but the underlying situation remains serious with
groundwater levels in most areas very low," he said.
"We simply dont know how much rain we will get in the rest of the summer,
and if the weather is unusually hot and dry, we will need to restrict water
use more than we are at present. So we believe it is sensible to apply for a
drought order now, even though normal levels of summer rainfall would mean
that further restrictions are not needed."
Applying for the order is a "essential step" in gaining Environment Agency
permission to take more water than usual from rivers to help maintain
reservoir levels, Mr Pelczer added.
Thames Water said a further application for an "emergency" drought order to
permit water rationing and standpipes in the streets was "a remote
possibility this year". Two dry winters in a row have caused "very low" base
river and groundwater levels across the Thames Water region, the company
said.
Its drought order application will be subject to an independent inquiry
before Defra decides whether to approve it. Mr Pelczer said Thames Water was
carrying out a £1 billion programme to bring down Londons "unacceptably
high leakage rates". The company brought in a hosepipe ban on April 3 this
year - its first in 15 years.
Consumer Council for Water spokesman Andrew Marsh said: "I am very concerned
because Thames Water have a poor record on containing leakages from their
network and so they will find it harder than other companies to take
customers with them in conserving water resources.
"Our particular concern is about those businesses which are water-dependent
because their livelihoods could be affected by a drought order. The
Government needs to think about all those businesses when deciding whether
to grant the order."
Alan Bradley, Westminster City Council Cabinet member for the Environment,
said: "Its pretty galling at a time when Thames Water loses 900 million
litres a day for them to ask for a drought order to be imposed on
Londoners."
(By Louise Barnett, Independent, 10/06/2006)
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article754389.ece