How do we get droughts?
- Thread starter Gilly
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Piggymon said:
Done.
( via Desmo )
cyKey said:I have a degree in actual real world science and from what I've learnt its something to do with a lack of water falling from the sky.
But the lack of water falling from the sky would not be a problem if the stuff we already had didn't leak into the ground
The uk's climate has changed over recent years too. The South East is getting hotter and dryer as the years go on. Rainfall is a lot less in these parts over the winter months when reservoirs are expected to replenish. Hence why you now find crops being grown down there that was never possible before. Look at kents wine industry and orchards.
I live in West Wales and for the last few years our recent winters have been very dry. January had very little rainfall, in fact thinking about it we seem to have had very few major storms this year.
My brother works for Hyder (welsh water) and he was telling me that water has been piped from welsh reservoirs to the south east to help cope with demand.
I live in West Wales and for the last few years our recent winters have been very dry. January had very little rainfall, in fact thinking about it we seem to have had very few major storms this year.
My brother works for Hyder (welsh water) and he was telling me that water has been piped from welsh reservoirs to the south east to help cope with demand.
vonhelmet said:
From memory heavy rain over a short period of time is not as good as lighter rain over a prolonged period of time.
The reason is that heavy rain tends not to have time to settle into the ground (see my comment about floodplains), and tends to largely go straight back out to sea etc.
Lighter rain over a longer period has a chance to soak into the ground and get absorbed, thus working it's way into the water table.
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Werewolf said:
I think you're right.
Shetland has one of the lowest annual rainfall figures in the country but it rains more days than most places, meaning we have persistant light rain.
I can only remember 1 hosepipe ban in Shetland in my lifetime (which was in the infamous summer of '76).
Stan
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Thoughts on this in no particular order...
1. Desalination is prohibitively expensive, so we're still rather dependant on the stuff that falls from the sky.
2. All the Water companies got privatised a while back and so, despite being 'utilities', put shareholders' profit before infrastructure/sustainability/staff.
3. To combat this trend Offwatt was created. Ofwatt dictates how much a water company can spend/charge it's customers, and if a company breaks the rules (puts too much **** in the rivers, over-abstracts a water source, ignores customer complaints etc) it fines the company or further limits how much it is allowed to charge - thus creating a viscious circle.
4. When many of the companies were privatised they were sumarily asset-stripped for a quick profit, and are now paying for services they used to own.
5. We have had 3 dry summers and winters in a row. For a major reservoir like Bewl (Sussex/Kent) to recover it's levels we needed 25% above average rainfall for the past six months - this hasn't happened.
6. The culture in this country - as far as water usage goes - is far more 'wastefull' than on the continent, added to the higher population density we use an awful lot more clean water than a nation such as the french. This is something that isn't going to change until everyones usage is metered, which requires investment, which isn't going to happen any time soon.
The bottom line is that we have all (government and Water Companies included) been taking our water supplies for granted.
1. Desalination is prohibitively expensive, so we're still rather dependant on the stuff that falls from the sky.
2. All the Water companies got privatised a while back and so, despite being 'utilities', put shareholders' profit before infrastructure/sustainability/staff.
3. To combat this trend Offwatt was created. Ofwatt dictates how much a water company can spend/charge it's customers, and if a company breaks the rules (puts too much **** in the rivers, over-abstracts a water source, ignores customer complaints etc) it fines the company or further limits how much it is allowed to charge - thus creating a viscious circle.
4. When many of the companies were privatised they were sumarily asset-stripped for a quick profit, and are now paying for services they used to own.
5. We have had 3 dry summers and winters in a row. For a major reservoir like Bewl (Sussex/Kent) to recover it's levels we needed 25% above average rainfall for the past six months - this hasn't happened.
6. The culture in this country - as far as water usage goes - is far more 'wastefull' than on the continent, added to the higher population density we use an awful lot more clean water than a nation such as the french. This is something that isn't going to change until everyones usage is metered, which requires investment, which isn't going to happen any time soon.
The bottom line is that we have all (government and Water Companies included) been taking our water supplies for granted.
I work for a certain water company (well not exactly hard to work out) and there are a number of reasons, I can find out if anyone wants to know a water company's answer to the question, or any others?
Mains rehab is a huge huge part of the business, this involves relining all the old iron piping with a nice new epoxy coating. Problem is it takes a hell of a lot of time to do it, plus all the inconveniances of actually doing it.
Doesn't help when the company sticks 10 litres of diesel into the supply either
Mains rehab is a huge huge part of the business, this involves relining all the old iron piping with a nice new epoxy coating. Problem is it takes a hell of a lot of time to do it, plus all the inconveniances of actually doing it.
Doesn't help when the company sticks 10 litres of diesel into the supply either
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I was always told the reasons were
a) Rain and standing water is unevenly distrubuted, with the north having more rain and reservoirs, so the south has less water.
b) Its consistant rain that fills up the water table (as has been said). Very heavy showers run off quickly and rarely collect in above ground reservoirs, usually running straight into rivers to the sea.
c) Snow melt is a big source of water, and we're getting less
d) A HUGE amount is lost through pipes. I hear that were we to fix all leaks, we as a country would not need to worry about water shortages for (using current trends) 50-100 years
a) Rain and standing water is unevenly distrubuted, with the north having more rain and reservoirs, so the south has less water.
b) Its consistant rain that fills up the water table (as has been said). Very heavy showers run off quickly and rarely collect in above ground reservoirs, usually running straight into rivers to the sea.
c) Snow melt is a big source of water, and we're getting less
d) A HUGE amount is lost through pipes. I hear that were we to fix all leaks, we as a country would not need to worry about water shortages for (using current trends) 50-100 years
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In New Mexico, USA, they cannot water their lawns or plants with water from the tap. They have to collect rain water, when/if it rains. That is how scarce water is there.
Not too long ago we had a burn ban here in the whole state of Texas. No BBQ's open fires nothing because it was soo dry.
What actually qualifies an areas as suffering a drought because I think it would have to not rain for a long time before the UK had a dought.
Not too long ago we had a burn ban here in the whole state of Texas. No BBQ's open fires nothing because it was soo dry.
What actually qualifies an areas as suffering a drought because I think it would have to not rain for a long time before the UK had a dought.