Plans to use canals to ease water supplies

THE massive house building programme coupled with climate change could mean that the country will soon run out of water supplies.

Use canals

So water companies have created a £500million plan to build up huge supplies to prevent such a shortage, build vast reservoirs and use canals to transfer supplies, Keith Gudgin reports.

Some companies plan to step up recycling of sewage water so it can be pumped back into the network and even the use of desalination plants to treat sea water on the south coast is also being considered.

The canals being considered are the Grand Union, Oxford, Coventry and Birmingham & Fazeley.

Uphill

However it seems the actual flow of the water in canals has not been considered as it is proposed to supply water to Birmingham by the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal 'uphill' against the 14 Curdworth and Minworth locks and both ways along the Grand Union.