Water UK

Consumption

 •  It is hard to imagine that each and every day, just under seventeen and a half billion (17,395 million) litres of water goes in to the UK mains water supply.

 •  It serves the needs of more than 60 million consumers across UK households and business.

 •  On average, each of us uses 150 litres each day.

 •  The water comes from naturally occurring underground stores (called acquifers), from rivers and from varieties of reservoirs. The 17.5 billion litres flows in to supply, whether or not there is any rain to replace it.

Impacts of low rainfall

 •  When dry spells continue for long periods, the balance between water used and water replenished gets more and more unequal. The environment essentially becomes water stressed.

 •  Winter, when there is less in the way of plants and vegetation to soak up the falling rain, is the key time for water resources to recover and return to normal levels.

Understanding groundwater drought

 •  With the volume of rainfall needed to restore water resources after long periods, severe groundwater droughts can continue through summers that have well above average rainfall.

 •  It can feel counter-intuitive, but rain can be streaming down our windows and yet water resources can still be suffering. After not being re-filled for long periods of time, it then takes long periods of time for them to return to normal.

 •  With so many billions of litres of water needed each and every day, people generally recognise that a few days rain or a few intense showers just won’t do the job.

Water resources management home

National picture

Environment Agency
National responsibility for environmental management of the drought
Defra
Government department with overall responsibility for water resources in England
Met Office
Responsibile for weather forecasting and rainfall monitoring
Natural England
Working with farmers in times of drought
Waterwise
Water industry funded NGO focused on reducing consumption and promoting water efficiency