11 votes

Southern Water, serving 4.7mn UK customers, in discussions with private supplier to tanker water from Norwegian fjords to mitigate against potential supply shortages and drought

Posted by mycketforvirrad
Tags: norway, disasters.natural, droughts, scarcity.water, utilities, southern water, preparation.disaster, business, extreme drought resilience service, imports, regulation, environment agency, fjords, united kingdom, author.gill plimmer, source.ft, paywall
https://www.ft.com/content/67f2383b-9bcd-4afa-a842-27bc5580ecaa

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Title
Southern Water makes plans to tanker supplies from Norway's fjords
Published
Sep 26 2024
Word count
727 words

10 comments

  1. [7]
    sparksbet
    Link
    I don't have access to the article, but... they're on an island? How tf is it easier for them to get tanker water from Norway than from their own coasts?

    I don't have access to the article, but... they're on an island? How tf is it easier for them to get tanker water from Norway than from their own coasts?

    7 votes
    1. [6]
      mycketforvirrad
      Link Parent
      This is an archive link.

      This is an archive link.

      4 votes
      1. [5]
        sparksbet
        Link Parent
        Thanks! For those who don't click through, it turns out the water is not actually from the Norwegian fjords (which after all would need desalinated just like local British seawater) but from...

        Thanks! For those who don't click through, it turns out the water is not actually from the Norwegian fjords (which after all would need desalinated just like local British seawater) but from freshwater glacial melts.

        8 votes
        1. [5]
          Comment deleted by author
          Link Parent
          1. [3]
            Greg
            (edited )
            Link Parent
            If they end up bailing out Thames Water I am fucking done (different company, similar situation, for anyone unfamiliar). It’s bad enough they’ve been allowed to strip mine the public for dividends...

            If they end up bailing out Thames Water I am fucking done (different company, similar situation, for anyone unfamiliar). It’s bad enough they’ve been allowed to strip mine the public for dividends rather than actually maintaining the infrastructure that was sold to them, but the one small silver lining is that the government gets to renationalise it for pennies when they go bankrupt. The fact that anyone even floated the idea of propping them up makes my blood boil.

            [Edit] Quote from the article that sums up why we’re so pissed off, in case anyone from more naturally drought-prone areas is wondering why the operators are getting the blame here:

            The need to consider water imports underscores the neglected state of England’s water and sewerage network, parts of which have not been upgraded in decades. About one-fifth of treated water supplies is lost to leaks, according to water regulator Ofwat, while no new reservoirs have been built in more than three decades.

            7 votes
            1. [2]
              mat
              Link Parent
              Yes, but privatisation gives consumers choice and drives down prices through competition. That's what they told us. Except I don't get to choose. My supplier is the only supplier in the area, and...

              Yes, but privatisation gives consumers choice and drives down prices through competition. That's what they told us. Except I don't get to choose. My supplier is the only supplier in the area, and that's the same for everyone.

              Who could have predicted that handing private companies literal monopolies on life-essential services would lead to this? Oh wait

              There is at least decent public support for renationalisation, and a government who might actually do it.

              11 votes
              1. sparksbet
                Link Parent
                If I'd never heard of the UK and read a book about modern British history and politics, you'd have a hard time convincing me it was a real country and not a straw man example set up to tell a...

                If I'd never heard of the UK and read a book about modern British history and politics, you'd have a hard time convincing me it was a real country and not a straw man example set up to tell a fable about how badly privatization of public services can go. The more I learn about it the more darkly funny it gets.

                3 votes
          2. vord
            Link Parent
            What, you haven't seen the canned oxygen yet?

            What, you haven't seen the canned oxygen yet?

            2 votes
  2. [3]
    floweringmind
    Link
    would be nice if people didn’t post articles that are behind pay walls

    would be nice if people didn’t post articles that are behind pay walls

    1 vote
    1. mycketforvirrad
      Link Parent
      There is an archive link in the comments section.

      There is an archive link in the comments section.

      2 votes