Managing the UK's water supply

Managing water supplies in the UK

In the UK, the demand for water is increasing. But the places with the highest demand for water aren't the same as those with a good supply.

Demand and supply

The north  and west of the UK have high rainfall, meaning they have a good supply. The south east and midlands have a high population density, which means that there is a high demand for water. The south east and midlands are areas of water defecit. The north and west are areas of water surplus.

Deficit and Surplus

Water DefecitWhen there is a higher demand for water than supply.

Water SurplusWhen there is a higher supply of water than there is a demand.

Reasons for an increasing demand

Over the last 25 years, the amount of water used has risen 50%. The population is predicted to increase by 10 million in the next 20 years

Managing water supply

One way to deal with water supply and demand is to transfer water from areas of surplus to areas of a water defecit. For example, Birmingham is at a defecit, and is supplied with water from the middle of Wales (surplus)

...But there are issues with transferring water.

The dams and aqueducts needed are expensive It could affect river wildlife - for example, fish migration could be disrupted by dam building. There could be political problems - people may not want their water to go to another country.

Problems with water transfer

Other ways to solve this problem...

Another way to increase water supplies in defecit areas is to build more resevoirs to store more water. But this could include flooding existing settlements and relocating people.Fixing leaky pipes means less water is lost during transfer. Millions of litres are lost every day through leaky pipes around London - fixing them would stop this.

Reducing demand

Demand can be reduced by reducing the amount of water used. This can be by taking showers instead of baths, running washing machines only when they're full, etc. Water companies want people to have water meters installed - they're more likely to be careful of the amount of water they use if they have to pay by the litre.