Since April 5th this year, we in the South East have been subjected to another hose pipe ban. Whether this is due to two exceptionally dry winters or to the mismanagement of the water companies is open to conjecture. Yet the press have not had much to say on the subject, in fact nobody appears to have much to say. 3.3 Billion litres of water is lost every day to water leaks, water bills have risen by, on average, 5.7% this year, and unlike other energy bills - Gas and Electric - you cannot swap between water suppliers. Incidentally 3.3 billion litres is enough water to fill Wembley Stadium three times over - every day!
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| The water towers almost high and dry |
Like most other fisherman - aroung 800,000 of us - I pay almost £30 per year for a fishing licence, but other water users do not. Unlike other water users, my sport has been severely hampered by water extraction, empty reservoirs, rivers and lakes and fish deaths which must inevitably be caused by the lack of water across the South and East. Anglian Water and my local authority Southern Water are amongst 6 companies who have missed their target for leakage repairs last year and previous years.
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A huge amount of exposed ground
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Since the water companies were privatised in 1989, foreign companies have gradually bought up the vast majority of shares, often without customers even noticing. The Twenty Two companies that make up our Water Authorities made massive profits of £2.2billion in the 2010/11 financial year, with a turnover of more than £10billion. Meanwhile, the impact of rising bills is stretching family finances, with millions of households owing more than £1.6billion, and debts rocketing 130% in the past decade. It is the householder who will have to foot the bill for this year's drought cost too. As a fisherman - I will have to pay twice!
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| Happier days - when Bewl was full. |
