In article .com,
Mike Lyle wrote:

(snip)
Yes, the leakages are a scandal. I dare say that those who (both
myopically and understandably) voted for governments which attacked
council powers may be partly to blame for the lack of infrastructure
spending. Yes, it's obvious that turning over the supplies to private
profit instead of public welfare was moronic if not quasi-corrupt. But
it's a fact that these transmission losses are actually happening.

There should of course be a national water grid (and I suppose the
existing canals could be its backbone -- I don't know). But there
isn't.

So there really is a water shortage in some heavily populated areas,
and house-building will indeed exacerbate it. The Kennet really has run
dry. We do flush the loo with drinking water; people do let rain run
off the roof into the drains without using it first; they really do use
a gallon or two of water to clean their teeth; etc. Building practices
are clearly inadequate. Industry's nowhere near as wasteful as it used
to be, but I'm sure it could do better still.

If it takes a piece of spin like rumours of hosepipe bans to get people
thinking about water, and even saving a bit, then maybe it's not
entirely a bad thing.

You might be interested to read the Environment Agency's
thought-provoking (October 2005) memorandum to the House of Lords at
http://www.publications.parliament.u.../ldsctech/191/
5112902.htm

In the grand scheme of things, garden watering doesn't even register on
the Richter scale.