While UK households face strict hosepipe bans this summer to conserve water, water companies are leaking nearly 3 billion litres of drinking water into the ground each and every day. This unsustainable environmental reality is the result of neglectful practice and outdated Victorian-era pipework. The double standard is glaring; the bans set by water companies suggest that the negative impacts of our systemic infrastructure is the fault of everyday consumers.
In the UK, water companies lose approximately 20% of all treated water before it reaches our taps. Meanwhile the carbon emissions associated with purifying that water treating and pumping require huge amounts of energy and chemicals which is wasted without benefiting consumers. Moreover, to compensate for the vast volumes of water lost during heat waves, water companies over-abstract from fragile wetlands, rivers, and even chalk streams which are rarer than rainforests. These chalk streams lose their natural flow, suffer losses to their biodiversity and water quality notwithstanding the destruction of their native aquatic habitats.
Hosepipe bans shift the blame on consumers and seem to suggest they are responsible for solving the crisis; meanwhile, over a trillion litres of network leakages every year by the very companies who charge extortionate fees for the water they lose. Hosepipe bans arguably an unfortunately necessity given the situation we have found ourselves in, but until water utilities are held accountable for their actions, consumer bans remain a superficial fix for an environmental crisis affecting us all.