Last week’s poll: Engineers against water shortage

If you’ve had a water meter installed, then you were likely offered aerator fittings for your taps and a mini-hour glass to time your showers.

The further addition of a ‘save-a-flush’ pack to your cistern might bolster your arsenal of water-saving devices that knock a few pounds off your bill, but are these efforts enough to avert water shortages predicted for England within the next 25 years?

This dire prediction was made by Sir James Bevan, the chief executive of the Environment Agency, who warned that demand from the rising population would outstrip the failing supply resulting from climate change.

The public certainly has its part to play, with Bevan noting that public water usage must drop by a third. He added that there should also be a campaign to halve leakage from water utility pipes, a situation that engineers will no doubt be lending their expertise to.