On Mon, 12 Mar 2012 20:24:06 -0000, John Williamson wrote:

Lieutenant Scott wrote:
On Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:48:51 -0000, John Williamson
wrote:

The UK is the 74th wettest country in the world, with on average about
half the rainfall of Australia. We even get less rain than Germany.

I find it hard to believe Australia is wetter than here.

1,304mm per year in Canberra, and 762mm per year in London. (1931 - 1960
averages)

Obviously some bits of the UK are wetter, but it's not much over 1500mm
per year, even in the lake district.

Anyone who lives in Australia will tell you they get the sun all the time! Maybe their rain falls more easily and doesn't just hover like ours blotting out the light.

The age of the water mains doesn't help, with the latest estimates still
showing about 20% of the water in London never getting to the consumers'
taps, but that's more due to lack of investment by the government over
the last five or six decades than the incomepetence of the water boards.

Also most water does not go through dams. We must be using a very small
proportion of the water that rains.

It depends how you define use. Every gallon of Thames water gets used
(drunk and flushed down the drain or washed in, then repeat the cycle)
on average four times before it finally gets into the sea.

I heard it was seven.

Other parts
of the South East use boreholes, which tap into the water layer below
the London clay, so the water used is fossil water that fell on the
North and South Downs a few Centuries ago.

This is a crazy idea surely? Creating a big gap underground. And using something which is not available forever.

Merseyside and Birmingham use
dams in Wales with Merseyside using the Lake District as well, the
Potteries area uses dams in the peak district, and Yorkshire's water
mainly comes from the Pennines by various routes.

Most water use in the UK, though, is for agriculture, and the vast
majority of that is rain directly onto the crops. You don't often see
irrigation being used, especially in comparison with parts of mainland
Europe.

I'm sure there are plenty natural rivers that just flow straight out to sea. There are in Scotland anyway. I don't think the Tay is used much at all.

The main problem with water supply and use in the UK is the vastly
disproportionate number of people living in the driest areas. About half
the population of the UK lives within 60 miles of Charing Cross.

They shouldn't. I detest cities and can't understand someone wanting to live all crammed together like that. And they pay more for the privilege!

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