Key impact - Water scarcity

Recent examples

We tend to think of the UK as having plenty of water, but in fact we have less water per head than Spain or Portugal. For example, the east of England gets about 600mm of water a year, and three-quarters of that evaporates or gets used by plants.

In the three regions, daily water use in the home ranges from 140-160 litres of water per person. With a population of 21 million, that's at least three thousand million litres of water, each and every day.

Pressure on water resources is greatest in the summer, when it's hotter and drier. A wet winter will refill reservoirs, providing enough water to last until the summer. But in 2004 and 2005, low winter rainfall meant that by July many reservoirs were almost completely dry.

A hosepipe ban had to be imposed to conserve the remaining supply for essential use. Water companies ran campaigns reminding people to be more careful with their water. There was a huge public response, and water use dropped by around 84 million litres a day in 2006/07, with reductions of 8.6% in London and 14.3% in the Thames Valley.

We need to be careful with our water all year round.

Key points

• If everybody saves water, hosepipe and sprinkler bans can be avoided in hot summers
• If you're on a water meter, saving water means saving money - simple products like water-efficient shower heads can pay for themselves in less than a year
• Water-efficient products use less water and work as well as, or better than, standard versions. They also save energy