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Desalination and reservoirs in UK

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By (user no longer on site) OP   
over a year ago

Seems the only Plant in England to desalinate water has been quietly shelved because of high energy running costs.

The Beckton desalination plant, was supposed to provide a daily amount of 150 million litres a day when drought conditions occurred which would have helped 400,000 homes.

So considering the changes to our climate, isn't it time that we open more Desalination plants to help with our water problems, and do we build more reservoirs to trap more water so are better protected?

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By *appyPandaMan
over a year ago

Kilkenny, but Dublin is more fun


"Seems the only Plant in England to desalinate water has been quietly shelved because of high energy running costs.

The Beckton desalination plant, was supposed to provide a daily amount of 150 million litres a day when drought conditions occurred which would have helped 400,000 homes.

So considering the changes to our climate, isn't it time that we open more Desalination plants to help with our water problems, and do we build more reservoirs to trap more water so are better protected?"

Especially if you'll have industry still pumping a load of waste in rivers that start flowing with less and less water.

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By *ust RachelTV/TS
over a year ago

Horsham

Surely desalinisation plants can help with the rise in sea levels, caused by global warming ?

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
over a year ago

Gilfach


"Especially if you'll have industry still pumping a load of waste in rivers that start flowing with less and less water. "

That's been illegal for many years now, and is becoming vanishingly rare. So that's not an issue.

The real problem with desalination, as Thames Water have discovered, is that it's cripplingly expensive. That's fine in the middle east, where water is precious, but it doesn't make sense here in the UK where we usually have far too much of the stuff.

We just need to build more reservoirs to replace the ones that have been closed down over the past few decades.

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
over a year ago

Gilfach


"Surely desalinisation plants can help with the rise in sea levels, caused by global warming ?"

You may be under-estimating the size of the sea.

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By *eroy1000Man
over a year ago

milton keynes


"Seems the only Plant in England to desalinate water has been quietly shelved because of high energy running costs.

The Beckton desalination plant, was supposed to provide a daily amount of 150 million litres a day when drought conditions occurred which would have helped 400,000 homes.

So considering the changes to our climate, isn't it time that we open more Desalination plants to help with our water problems, and do we build more reservoirs to trap more water so are better protected?"

There was a bbc article on this several weeks ago. Not specific to the UK though it was mentioned. They also say the costs are ridiculous and in the UK at least they would not be needed all the time. Anyway they said that nuclear powered desalination is possible and cheaper

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
over a year ago

Gilfach


"Anyway they said that nuclear powered desalination is possible and cheaper"

Good point. Nuclear desalination is dirt cheap.

The main cost in desalination is the electricity involved in pumping the water to and from the plant, and in maintaining the high pressures needed for the osmotic filters to work. Nuclear power plants already pump the water to and from, for cooling purposes. Adding the osmotic filters into the system means that the resultant fresh water is almost free.

Sadly, the eco-worriers won't let it happen.

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By *ebjonnsonMan
over a year ago

Maldon


"Seems the only Plant in England to desalinate water has been quietly shelved because of high energy running costs.

The Beckton desalination plant, was supposed to provide a daily amount of 150 million litres a day when drought conditions occurred which would have helped 400,000 homes.

So considering the changes to our climate, isn't it time that we open more Desalination plants to help with our water problems, and do we build more reservoirs to trap more water so are better protected?"

Climate change has not altered rainfall in the UK. Figures from 1766 show no reduction in average rainfall. In fact, figures for the last 50 years shows a 7% increase.

So why a shortage in the south east? Well, the population of London has grown 20%. Could that possibly be the reason?

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By *ovebjsMan
over a year ago

Bristol

At least 10 million more people since 1976 and more leaks in the system.

More people have swimming pools hot tubs ect more water use and less investment in the water industry

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Desalination plants are a tad expensive.

Plus this joke of a government arranged things so when it rains in this country, foreign companies sell it to us

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By *ophieslutTV/TS
over a year ago

Central

We should prioritise the ending of the enormous pillaging of our money that the water companies have been doing for years, whilst not investing in infrastructure to stop leaks and to deliver the necessary volumes of water. £Tens of billions effectively stolen from the country.

The enablers of this are our government. Such essential needs as access to water is obviously unimportant to them.

We obviously need a totally different regime, to manage our assets, for the benefit of the people

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By *oubleswing2019Man
over a year ago

Colchester


"We should prioritise the ending of the enormous pillaging of our money that the water companies have been doing for years, whilst not investing in infrastructure to stop leaks and to deliver the necessary volumes of water. £Tens of billions effectively stolen from the country.

The enablers of this are our government. Such essential needs as access to water is obviously unimportant to them.

We obviously need a totally different regime, to manage our assets, for the benefit of the people "

You are right in that regards, we do need a completely new regime to manage our assets.

But where will the funding come from ? I know of 2 investors who have said to me, "If the company start cutting their dividend to fix water leaks, I'm pulling all my shares and looking for returns elsewhere, and they can fold for all I care."

We're are the hard and sharp end of capitalism here and it's going to hurt and will hurt a lot of folks. There is no easy "off-ramp" to this that I can see that isn't going to be incredibly expensive and tortuous.

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By *rFunBoyMan
over a year ago

Longridge

I worked for a North West Utilities company in lab and monitoring services

I was monitoring levels in 1987-1990. When I questioned why reservoirs had not been de-silted and dredged to restore capacity, I was told to be quiet.

Most North West reservoirs are only capable of 2/3rds original built capacity and 1,000s of new houses in the North West with growing populations yet not a single new reservoir commissioned.

Same goes for sewage, 1,000s of new houses built, same capacity of sewage treatment, single pipe drainage system taking surface and wa6 then wonder why rivers are regularly polluted when it repeatedly washes through with small rain downpours.

They're happy to add new properties to billing but little infrastructure built to cater for them.

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By *rDiscretionXXXMan
over a year ago

Gilfach


"But where will the funding come from ? I know of 2 investors who have said to me, "If the company start cutting their dividend to fix water leaks, I'm pulling all my shares and looking for returns elsewhere, and they can fold for all I care.""

Why would the water company care about investors selling shares?

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By *ynonvalleyboyMan
over a year ago

merthyr

There is an ingenious fb post about a guy in Wales who every hour fills a bucket of water from the tap, drives to the reservoir to replenish it, excellent idea although i cannot understand why he dont carry 2 buckets.

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By *ovebjsMan
over a year ago

Bristol

[Removed by poster at 16/08/22 06:53:33]

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By *ovebjsMan
over a year ago

Bristol

Liv Garfield, the chief executive of Severn Trent, was paid £2.45m last year, making her the UK’s best-paid water company boss. Garfield took home a salary of £674,000, a £615,000 bonus, and long-term incentive shares worth £975,000, a pension contribution of £168,000 and other benefits worth £18,000.

Hmm i Just wonder where all the money went ?

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By *wisted999Man
over a year ago

North Bucks

Need to concentrate on the research and tech side to drive the cost down.

It seems a no brainier to be honest.

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By *inky_couple2020Couple
over a year ago

North West

There are other issues with desalinated water, as well as cost and energy requirements.

One is what to do with the highly concentrated salty brine that is left behind.

Another is the long term health consequences of drinking water that has had most minerals removed (especially magnesium).

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By *alking HeadMan
over a year ago

Bolton


"There are other issues with desalinated water, as well as cost and energy requirements.

One is what to do with the highly concentrated salty brine that is left behind.

Another is the long term health consequences of drinking water that has had most minerals removed (especially magnesium). "

Put them back in, at whatever levels are required. That's what breweries do to match the water in Burton upon Trent.

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By *inky_couple2020Couple
over a year ago

North West


"There are other issues with desalinated water, as well as cost and energy requirements.

One is what to do with the highly concentrated salty brine that is left behind.

Another is the long term health consequences of drinking water that has had most minerals removed (especially magnesium).

Put them back in, at whatever levels are required. That's what breweries do to match the water in Burton upon Trent."

As you can imagine, this adds further expense, especially on the scale desalination is potentially required for drinking water. It also doesn't remove the problem of how to safely dispose of hypersaline brine left behind. If you chuck it back in the sea, you cause environmental problems because the flora and fauna can only cope with a certain level of salinity.

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By *alking HeadMan
over a year ago

Bolton

You can use the salt in industry. Steam generators go through it by the ton for regenerating softening plants. Plus the chemical industry uses even more. At the moment we are taking it from under the ground. As for putting trace elements back in, it's a negligible cost.

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By *rFunBoyMan
over a year ago

Longridge


"There are other issues with desalinated water, as well as cost and energy requirements.

One is what to do with the highly concentrated salty brine that is left behind.

Another is the long term health consequences of drinking water that has had most minerals removed (especially magnesium).

Put them back in, at whatever levels are required. That's what breweries do to match the water in Burton upon Trent.

As you can imagine, this adds further expense, especially on the scale desalination is potentially required for drinking water. It also doesn't remove the problem of how to safely dispose of hypersaline brine left behind. If you chuck it back in the sea, you cause environmental problems because the flora and fauna can only cope with a certain level of salinity. "

Tastes disgusting too..

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By *inky_couple2020Couple
over a year ago

North West


"There are other issues with desalinated water, as well as cost and energy requirements.

One is what to do with the highly concentrated salty brine that is left behind.

Another is the long term health consequences of drinking water that has had most minerals removed (especially magnesium).

Put them back in, at whatever levels are required. That's what breweries do to match the water in Burton upon Trent.

As you can imagine, this adds further expense, especially on the scale desalination is potentially required for drinking water. It also doesn't remove the problem of how to safely dispose of hypersaline brine left behind. If you chuck it back in the sea, you cause environmental problems because the flora and fauna can only cope with a certain level of salinity.

Tastes disgusting too.."

This is also true

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