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How can England possibly be running out of water?

theguardian.com

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Re: How can England possibly be running out of water?

#491

Post by ajmurmann »

tome wrote: post #105
seanalltogether wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The concept of reservoirs and emergency supply seems to be completely at odds with privatisation. What private company is going to spend loads of money to build deep reservoirs that are stressed only once every 5 or 10 years. None. They're going to reach for an immediate supply like a river or aquifer and then raise prices if those sources run low. It's insane to plan out infrastructure on the belief that private com…

I'm inclined to agree that privatisation is bad for long term planning, but the history of the Abingdon Reservoir proposal seems to be counter evidence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abingdon_Reservoir Looks like Thames Water (a private company) proposed the development nearly 20 years ago, but it was turned down by the Environment Agency , a government body. > Plans for a £1bn reservoir in Oxfordshire to supply more…

Not surprised by this since the parent comments "30 years" in general seem to coincide with the timeframe when we stopped building in the west in general.

Re: How can England possibly be running out of water?

#492

Post by ajmurmann »

scubbo wrote: post #407
IAmBroom wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> > we did this to ourselves > I would argue that a small minority of the human race did this to the rest Yes, just the people that use fossil fuels to drive, heat their homes, power their electrical lines, and so forth. /s You can't dodge responsibility by pushing the blame upwards on everything. Are you posting these comments from a computer powered by solar panels?

No, the people who made it so that there was no way for humans to enjoy those reasonable comforts without contributing to pollution. > Are you posting these comments from a computer powered by solar panels? That's precisely the point. It shouldn't be individual responsibility to improve our infrastructure (though, in point of fact, I actually _am_ posting using solar power). A good society is one in which everyone _i…

I am not sure about you, but me and many other commenters here, live in Democracies and in places where capitalism offers choice. Yet, most people weren't voting for the green parties. Oversized vehicles are very popular. Even people who voice their concerns about climate change have complained to me about gas prices. When I tell people they should celebrate high gas prices I get treated like I am insane. We've been voting literally and with our wallets for the status quo. The vast majority of citizens is not without blame.

Re: How can England possibly be running out of water?

#493

Post by pojzon »

sandbags wrote: post #34

As the article mentions, privatised water companies have built no new reservoir capacity and relied on drawing from rivers and other sources. What the article doesn’t mention is that pre-privatisation a new reservoir was built every year up to about 1960 and then every few years until privatisation in 1992. So we are about 30 years behind in adding capacity to the system. This combined with the inadequate levels of i…

Nestle CEO:

„Water should not be human right”

Re: How can England possibly be running out of water?

#494

Post by happymellon »

cma wrote: post #382
ahartmetz wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe they are now (I doubt it), but they surely weren't under Thatcher.

Water was privatized in the 90s after Thatcher.

The pipes that "are Victorian and should have been replaced before privatisation" were around before then.

They have had plenty of time to replace them.

Re: How can England possibly be running out of water?

#495

Post by thfuran »

VirusNewbie wrote: post #446
Retric wrote: post #422

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn’t answer the question. However, any money paid to shareholders while accumulating debt, including deferred maintenance, etc was financial smoke and mirrors not actual profit.

Does the government not do this?

Unless you're trying to ask "is the level of corruption in government nonzero", the answer is unequivocally no because the government doesn't have shareholders.

Re: How can England possibly be running out of water?

#496

Post by overfeed »

ahartmetz wrote: post #320
qcnguy wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Tories are a centre-left party. That's why they lost the support of conservative voters at the last election and are now in the doldrums, with much of their base having defected to Reform.

Maybe they are now (I doubt it), but they surely weren't under Thatcher.

The Tories decided to flank Farage from the right during the last elections. Calling them "centre-left" is a joke.

Re: How can England possibly be running out of water?

#497

Post by AngryData »

Ericson2314 wrote: post #195
dukeyukey wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could say the same argument about food, but the system of privately owned farms moving food via privately owned logistics companies to privately owned grocery shops works very well. Yes, it's the responsibility of the state that it's citizens can acquire their needs, but that doesn't mean it has to be government owned.

Giving how much subsidies farmers get, and they still whine all the fucking time, I would gladly nationalize them all. Corn ethanal? Gone. Crazy EU stuff? Gone.

Subsidies are certainly mismanaged in numerous ways but they are the only alternative to the granary system to maintain reliable and stable food production. We used the granary system for thousands of years across the world and while it kind of worked, it also resulted in numerous famines across every culture.

Re: How can England possibly be running out of water?

#498

Post by elliotto »

mhh__ wrote: post #244
drowsspa wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tesco's is infrastructure?

You've heard of "food" I assume?

Food production is largely nationalised due to heavy subsidies provided to farmers. Different countries have different policies here, but in my country of Australia it meets the definition of a nationalised industry by everything but name.

Food distribution as not, and again in my country we are having constant investigations into monopolistic anti consumer behaviour by the large supermarkets.

Re: How can England possibly be running out of water?

#499

Post by refurb »

dahart wrote: post #308
refurb wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We were talking about making the country better not the media circus around it. The US and UK economies were terrible. Stagflation, “malaise”. Reagan ushered in a decade of strong economic growth. I’m sure all races would trade of a higher paycheck despite the media comments.

> Reagan ushered in a decade of strong economic growth By what measure? Can you source that claim? “Since World War II, according to many economic metrics including job creation, GDP growth, stock market returns, personal income growth, and corporate profits, the United States economy has performed significantly better on average under the administrations of Democratic presidents than Republican presidents.” Reagan w…

1979 inflation: 13.3%, GDP growth: 3.2%

1984 inflation: 4%, GDP growth: 7.4%

Higher growth less inflation is great for us workers

Re: How can England possibly be running out of water?

#500

Post by c0ax9 »

sandbags wrote: post #34

As the article mentions, privatised water companies have built no new reservoir capacity and relied on drawing from rivers and other sources. What the article doesn’t mention is that pre-privatisation a new reservoir was built every year up to about 1960 and then every few years until privatisation in 1992. So we are about 30 years behind in adding capacity to the system. This combined with the inadequate levels of i…

The privatization of water supply is featured prominently in Adam Curtis's new series "Shifty," and paints a similar picture. Profit > infrastructure is ruining so much...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shifty_(TV_series)

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