EVERYWHERE ... How much would you say it costs? T
WATER, WATER
Duncan McGilvray tries to separate fact from hype and says clubs must look at their own situation
here has been a lot of press coverage this year regarding the costs of water - both using it (irrigation) and also getting rid of it (drainage). Some very scary stories - but how much is truth and how much is hype?
Let’s look at some of these stories, and let’s try to separate fact from hype so that you can take action for the future from an informed viewpoint.
HEADLINE - “Club bowled out by water rates hike”
THE STORY - “An historic bowling club could be sunk by a massive 800% hike in its water rates. Club members fear they could drown in debt after learning their water bills will soar from £288 in 2007 to approximately £2,500 by 2010. The Club Chairman said : “closure isn’t imminent but it could come to that. It could put pressure on.”
The article goes on to say “the club has traded at a loss for the past few years and this year (2009) is expected to make a small profit, but that will easily be swallowed up by the new charges which have come about after United Utilities changed its policy and based its charges on surface area rather than rateable value.” When United Utilities were questioned on their new policy they commented that the new method of charging recommended by Ofwat was considered fairer and also “United Utilities does not make any money out of the change in policy, the money we are charging remains the same overall.”
It appears we are getting mixed up with the supply of water and the discharge of water - there is only mention of United
Utilities new way of charging for water removed from the ground and not what amounts are charged for water supplied by the water authority. I am no protector of large utility companies, but I do like to know the facts and, what is not mentioned is, that the new policy refers only to water discharged and taken from hard standing, which is chargeable, and not from the drainage of any permeable surface i.e. grassed and garden areas including large playing fields. Have a look at their website, there is a very good video which explains this very well -
http://www.unitedutilities.co.uk/Siteareavideo.ht m - it should put a lot of worried people’s minds at rest.
Rain harvesting
This does highlight, however, an area which you should seriously consider, and that is rain harvesting. Why pay for water to be taken away when it can be collected and used again? Roof water is relatively clean and only
requires basic filtration, so it is a very intelligent way of recycling water - worth looking into as we all know rainwater is far superior to mains water for the growing of plants and grasses. Surface water (collected from car parks,
roadways etc.) is a different matter as there are all sorts of contaminants which require more intensive filtration (therefore considerably more expensive). However, the way the world is going, it would make sense to invest in these systems now - the long term advantages are great.
HEADLINE - “Water suppliers to raise bills and cut investment”
Another story - but this time the purchasing of water from water authorities. “UK water suppliers are planning to raise customer bills more than originally thought and spend less on improving infrastructure following the worsening economic downturn. The price rises, if given the green light by the
industry regulator, will be enforced from April 2010 and will strike a blow to households and businesses already reeling from the recession and rising unemployment. Northumbrian Water plans to raise prices by 3.4% a year above inflation from 2010-2015 after initially proposing a 1.3% rise in a draft submission last August. The company, which operates in Essex and Suffolk as well as the North East, will also reduce its spending programme from £1.3bn to £1.27bn. Water providers are submitting their final business plans for 2010-2015 to Ofwat, the industry regulator, which outline their investment and maintenance programmes as well as the price rises needed to fund them. The changes to the plans come after Ofwat told the companies to reduce their investment following the draft proposals and what John Cuthbert, the managing director of Northumbrian Water, described as ‘significant and unavoidable changes’.
This includes the worsening economic outlook and increased tax charges and business rates. He added: ‘Whilst this will be unwelcome news for customers, we have done all we can to manage the impact of increased costs’. Severn Trent wants to raise prices by 0.8% a year - it had previously indicated bills would be
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