DESPITE the current hosepipe ban, and despite some rainfall during the past week, the water resource situation in the East Hampshire area remains dire and, according to South East Water, is likely to remain so for some time to come. But the message to customers is that careful conservation of water is working, and that the general public is doing a good job in warding off the need for drought orders. Speaking at Tuesday's community forum, SE Water resources manager James Grinnell expressed his company's thanks to customers for playing a key part in helping to address the current water shortage problems by demonstrating restraint in demand. The need to balance demand against supply was the key to success if the company was to meet its legal obligation to provide water to every one of its 1.5 million customers in the South East of England. It currently services two areas - from Sevenoaks to Eastbourne in the south and from Maidenhead to Petersfield - taking in Alton, Basingstoke and Farnham - in the north. The combined patch covers 3,607 sq km, requiring the use of 10,000 km network of water mains, providing an average of 400 million litres of water each day. Around 25 per cent of the water is sourced from three key reservoirs, 70 per cent is groundwater, and the rest is purchased from neighbouring water companies. The problem is that rainfall levels have been extremely low with 15 of the last 20 months being way below average, and two dry winters in succession leaving groundwater sources seriously depleted. According to Mr Grinnell, while a wet May provided some essential recharge to groundwater and rivers, in some parts of the South East it is the driest period since 1921. Fortunately, customers appear to have taken the call for restraint on board and demand for water has remained low compared to previous years when water consumption has peaked significantly during the summer months. "The level of demand has made a huge contribution to maintaining security of supply," said Mr Grinnell. He explained to the meeting how SE Water sought to balance supply and demand by drawing up a 25-year water resources plan, building in such variables as climate change, increased housing and the company's own use of resources, in order to put it on a sustainable level. The plan assumes the introduction of a hosepipe ban every 10 years and has contingencies for drought orders, involving non-essential use restrictions, and emergency measures in the event of a major regional situation. The drought plans come into operation when conditions fall below the normal operational levels of the water resources plan. In this case the company began raising awareness of the shortage as far back as December 2004 and applied to the Environment Agency to implement drought arrangements. While hosepipe restrictions were introduced elsewhere in the country from July 2005, they did not come into effect in the East Hampshire area until April this year. Because the hosepipe ban is based on 1947 legislation when water was not used in the same way outside the home, the restriction order is littered with anomalies but basically it bans the use of sprinklers and hosepipes for watering private gardens and for the washing of private cars. According to Mr Grinnell, while demand remains low, and the majority of consumers are complying with the spirit of the hosepipe ban, there are no immediate plans for further restrictions. However, operational enhancements have been introduced to move water more effectively around the region and a commitment made to a long-term investment of £67m by 2010 to develop resources in the region. Locally it could mean increasing the extraction rate at Greatham and investing in borehole development around the Tilford area. Looking ahead SE Water is to continue with its 'twin track' approach for supply and demand which involves continued leakage control at a cost of £10m a year, and the expansion of its metering programme which could cut consumer bills by as much as half. Work is to take place on the expansion of the Bray Water treatment works on the Thames which delivers 23m litres of water a day, some of it to the Alton area, and the development of new boreholes across the area. Questions fired at James Grinnell ranged from water quality to the value of metering. There was concern in particular over whether plans for major development took water supply into account - not directly, according to Mr Grinnell. While increased demand from new properties was built into the Water Resources Plan, water companies had no influence over Government policy , although they were pushing to be consulted. There were questions over the publicising of the Hosepipe ban which, Mr Grinnell confirmed, had been via the media and the use of leaflets accompanying water bills, but these were often discarded as unwanted advertising material. However, where companies had sent out separate letters they had been pilloried for spending money that some customers felt could have been better spent on repairing leaks. The fixing of leaks was another moot point and one where, according to Mr Grinnell, the cost of finding and fixing had to be weighed against the resulting increase in the cost of supply - it was a fine balance. As was the possible transfer of water around the country by pipeline - it worked with oil which commanded a higher price and higher investment but water, despite being vital to life, was not valued in the same way and needed to be pumped constantly to prevent stagnation. Research was currently taking place into the use of desalination plants which were thought to be a better long term solution to the resource problem.
