What was learned from 1995's drought crisis

Across the country, water shortages led to extreme measures being taken by water companies. For many weeks, tankers trundled to and from Bradford, bringing much-needed supplies from the east of the country.

Hosepipe bans were widespread, people were urged to take showers instead of baths, and water was even taken from Ilkley Lido to help ease the crisis. Things aren’t looking good for 2010. After Britain’s driest start to a year for almost half a century, parts of the country, including the North West, are already facing hosepipe bans.

In Yorkshire, reservoirs are a healthy 72 per cent full, but should the dry spell continue and we find ourselves facing a shortage, many would brace themselves for a similar scenario to that of 1995.

But their assumptions would be wrong – in cases of severe water shortage, Bradford and district would not suffer.

The crisis of 1995/96 sparked a huge rethink by water bosses, resulting in the construction of a giant distribution main, or grid, that enables Yorkshire Water to pump supplies from areas of plenty to those with dwindling levels. It interconnects major pumping stations and water treatment works, to ensure that no area runs dry.

“Huge changes have been made since 1995/96,” says Clare Dunlop, Yorkshire Water’s water resources planning manager.

“The grid allows for far more flexibility in moving raw and treated water throughout the region.

“In 1995, unusually, it did not rain in Pennine areas so the reservoirs became dry, but we still had available water in the east where we are more dependent on ground water and rivers, so we tankered it across. Now we can move it around the grid, between storage reservoirs.”

Yorkshire is the only water company in the UK that has a major water grid system. The majority of customers supplied live within the grid – and as work continues over the next five years, all but two per cent of customers will do so.

Says Helen Edwards, network optimisation manager with Yorkshire Water: “Some of the pipes making up the grid are more than a meter in diameter. A number enter Bradford from different directions. We can move water from west to east and vice-versa, and we can do so remotely.”

Previously, water was supplied through a network of pipes and could not be moved across the region.

This year saw the start of a 25-year plan drawn up by Yorkshire Water, looking at customer demand and the effect upon supply and demand.

“We look at factors such as climate change, environmental influences, population, and domestic and commercial use of water,” says Clare.

“A key consideration is the decline in demand for commercial use. Over the years, heavy industries such as textiles in Bradford, which used high volumes of water in processing, have declined. More recently, since the economic downturn, we have seen a big drop and we do not expect demand to rise again.”

The company works with the Environment Agency, which produces guidance as to how climate change could affect supply over time. With service sector usage, the 25-year plan predicts the opposite to happen, with more offices meaning more washrooms and more toilets being flushed.

Domestic use is also predicted to rise, with population growth and further housebuilding, although consumers are now more aware of the need to use water wisely.

“New properties have to have a meter by law – it is seen by the Government as a key way of managing customer demand,” says Clare. “And many other customers are switching to a meter to save money.”

Yorkshire Water serves around 550,000 properties on a meter, about a third of the total number.

In some areas of the UK, such as Dover and Folkestone in Kent, the local water company has been granted water scarcity status, meaning it can force customers to install meters.

Throughout the year, normal operations see Bradford supplied by water from a number of reservoirs and rivers.

“Even though we are not predicting any deficit, we still encourage people to take measures to save water,” adds Yorkshire Water media and campaigns adviser Aimee Laycock. “People are also wiser about how they use water. A lot has changed since 1995.” * For tips on how to use water wisely, visit yorkshirewater.

com.