‘It is not as if we do not pay through the nose for water’
10:32am Wednesday 18th April 2012 in Skipper
As I sit here staring out of a rain soaked window, it is hard to believe that a drought has been declared in Cornwall this week.
It appears we have just had a second dry winter in a row, and it has left the ground parched compared to a normal year.
I have even heard the chilling words issued by experts - ‘we are in a worse situation than we faced in 1976’ - and, as many of you will remember, we certainly do not want to go back to that situation again.
Back then, many of us lost mains water, and bowsers on the streets were a common sight.
Luckily, South West Water have done a good job (now there is a phrase I never thought I would use), and it appears our drinking water supplies are in no danger in the foreseeable future.
Apparently, new reservoirs across the region have increased the storage capacity for the South West significantly, and, although they are nowhere near full, they are also a very long way from empty.
That does not mean we can all relax and use water as freely as we would like.
Every one of us should take care not to waste what is a vital and ever-dwindling resource, even if it just by turning off the tap when you brush your teeth.
That is not to say South West Water shouldn’t be playing their part as well.
We lose millions of gallons of water through leaking pipes each year, and it comes down to the company to get the problem solved.
After all, it is not as if we do not pay through the nose for our water supplies compared to the rest of the country.
Surely some of the money normally earmarked for shareholder dividents could be funnelled into renewing pipes to make future savings - it must make economic sense after all.
Anyway, it appears the situation is bad, but it could be a lot worse.
And, lets be honest, we all know the rains will be coming to Cornwall as they do every single year - we will just have to wait for those six-week long school summer holidays to begin once more.
