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New pool closed over water fears
BBC Sun, 30 May 10 11:11:36 BST
A swimming pool in Oxfordshire, which opened in December, is closed because of "technical problems".
Inquiry over River Sowe incident
BBC Mon, 17 May 10 09:13:12 BST
Experts are testing samples of water after a chemical leak into the River Sowe in Warwickshire.
UK relies on 'virtual' water from drought-prone countries, says report
GUARDIAN Mon, 19 Apr 2010 05:00:00 GMT
Water embedded in imported goods puts severe pressure on areas already short of water, say experts Britain and other rich countries depend heavily on importing hidden "virtual" water from places that regularly experience droughts and shortages, according a report published today by the Royal Society of Engineers.
Talks resume as efforts to avert national rail strike continue
GUARDIAN Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:28:37 GMT
National Rail and service operators warn of drastically reduced services from 6 April if action goes ahead Talks aimed at averting the first national rail strike since 1994 resumed at Acas today as train operators draw up emergency timetables and warned that only one in five trains would run over the four days from 6 April if the action went ahead. Two separate strikes are due to begin next Tuesday. Between them, they will bring the network to a halt. Signal staff plan to strike for four hours in the morning and evening rush hours, while thousands of maintenance workers and supervisors are being called out for four days. The action is in protest at plans to cut 1,500 maintenance jobs and change work patterns. Bob Crow, the general secretary of the RMT union, said his negotiators had worked "flat out" to try to reach agreement, while Gerry Doherty, the general secretary of the TSSA union, said the strike was about the safety of the travelling public and his union members. In an open letter posted on the Network Rail website, Iain Coucher, the chief executive, accused union leaders of not considering settlement offers seriously. "We will keep trying to help the unions and their members understand our offers to avoid strikes, but they must want to negotiate and not just make empty gestures about talking," he wrote. National Rail is drawing up emergency timetables and offering advice on refunds and alternative travel arrangements. The pattern emerging is patchy, with some operators hoping to run a near-normal service and others expecting to be down to a handful of trains. Eurostar is predicting that all services will run over the four strike days. However, escaping Britain by plane may be trickier – Gatwick Express will run a rail replacement bus between the airport and London Victoria between 6.50pm and 10.30pm, and then a limited overnight train service. Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect are still finalising plans. Many operators are warning that the limited train services they hope to operate will close down completely in the early evening. London Midland and Virgin will both run between one and four trains an hour on the busiest routes – although Virgin hopes to run a normal service between London Euston and Glasgow – but they will shut down all services by 7pm. C2C, used by thousands of commuters between Essex and London, will have no trains in the early-morning rush hour between 6am and 7am, or between 7pm and 10pm. A drastically curtailed service is then expected until midnight. Chiltern Railways will run its last trains from London Marylebone between 5pm and 5.30pm. SouthEastern and Southern will both run curtailed services between Kent and Sussex and London, closing down completely at 7pm. South West Trains, another nusy commuter service taking people from the western home counties into London Waterloo, expects to run "a reduced service for part of the day". National Rail and train operators are warning passengers to check updates before travelling if the strike goes ahead. Transport Rail transport Trade unions Maev Kennedy guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
UN: Unsafe water deadlier than war
PRESSTV Tue, 23 Mar 2010 07:43:01 GMT
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says that the rate of people dying from unsafe water exceeds all forms of violence, including war.
UN: Unsafe water deadlier than war
PRESSTV Tue, 23 Mar 2010 07:14:19 GMT
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says that the rate of people dying from unsafe water exceeds all forms of violence, including war.
Damaged water main to be replaced
BBC Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:10:24 GMT
A water main which regularly bursts, leaving residents without supplies, is to be replaced in Hampshire.
1.3% rise for Thames Water bills
BBC Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:28:08 GMT
Water regulator Ofwat allows Thames Water to increase its bills by 1.3% in 2010/11.
Agreement on roadmap to settle Pak-India water dispute
DAWN Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:29:26 PKT
Indian delegation yields to Pakistani demand that all 'water disputes must be resolved with an agreed timeframe'.
Work starts on Ripon flood plan
BBC Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:32:12 GMT
Construction work starts on £14.4m flood defences which will protect homes and businesses in Ripon.
Flood alert phone service expands
BBC Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:38:52 GMT
Half a million homes and businesses in England and Wales at risk of flooding are to be automatically signed up to an early warning phone service.
Flood concert 'sell-out success'
BBC Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:48:29 GMT
All the tickets are sold for a concert organised to help the victims of the Cumbria floods and recognise rescue efforts.
Flooding to cost NHS 'millions'
BBC Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:01:20 GMT
NHS Cumbria says it faces a £7m bill to maintain temporary health services after widespread flooding destroyed surgeries and clinics.
Water firm to cut another 85 jobs
BBC Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:52:53 GMT
Bath-based Wessex Water confirms it is to shed another 85 jobs by the end of April.
Jobs boost in flood recovery work
BBC Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:10:31 GMT
An employment scheme designed to help 18 to 24-year-olds into work may benefit Cumbria flood recovery businesses.
Homes flood as water main bursts
BBC Tue, 26 Jan 2010 08:02:16 GMT
Some Teesside homes are hit by flooding after a water main bursts.
Gas supplies restored after flood
BBC Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:56:26 GMT
Engineers reconnect gas to about most of the properties in Ambleside which were cut off on Saturday.
Wall to protect flats from floods
BBC Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:00:01 GMT
The Environment Agency spends £250,000 on a flood defence wall to protect flats in Peterborough from river overflows.
Waterfront revamp plans on show
BBC Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:23:48 GMT
Six plans to regenerate part of the Wirral's coastline are drawn up and go on show at a public meeting.
Concerns raised over flood alerts
BBC Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:18:17 GMT
Residents in Pickering have raised concerns over flood warning systems after the local beck overflowed.
River Severn flood risk reduced
BBC Mon, 18 Jan 2010 09:39:00 GMT
A flood warning is downgraded for the River Severn in Shropshire as the river level begins to fall.
Flood warnings as thaw continues
BBC Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:16:45 GMT
Three flood warnings are issued by the Environment Agency for Herefordshire and Worcestershire due to melting snow and ice.
Flood warning after snow clears
BBC Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:31:39 GMT
A flood warning remains in place for the River Leam in Warwickshire as snow and ice melts around the county.
Flood warning in place for county
BBC Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:14:43 GMT
Environment Agency officials issue a flood warning for Leicestershire following the thaw of snow and ice.
River warnings as thaw continues
BBC Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:02:38 GMT
Melting snow and heavy rainfall swell brooks and rivers across Shropshire.
Flood barriers up as thaw goes on
BBC Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:17:07 GMT
Flood barriers have gone up in part of Worcestershire after warnings that thawing snow and ice could cause flooding there.
Second flood warning for county
BBC Sun, 17 Jan 2010 12:32:06 GMT
Environment Agency officials issue a second flood warning for Warwickshire following the thaw of snow and ice.
Boris Johnson blames Margaret Thatcher for roadworks 'disgrace'
GUARDIAN Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:59:56 GMT
Mayor of London speaks out as new permit scheme is launched for utilities digging up capital's streets Boris Johnson today blamed Margaret Thatcher for turning Britain into one of the most "roadwork afflicted nations in the world". The Conservative mayor of London made his comments on the day a new scheme was launched in sections of the capital that will see utility companies wishing to dig up London's roads forced to apply for a permit scheme to ensure they "share trenches" with each other in a bid to minimise traffic disruption. Johnson hopes that the move will reduce the 300,000 holes dug each year, which he says are responsible for 36% of traffic delays in the capital and cost business little short of £1bn. Johnson described the system that allows different utility companies to dig up roads "without warning and without so much as a by your leave" as a "disgrace". He wrote: "I am afraid it all goes back to Mrs Thatcher. She decided – entirely reasonably – that these new concerns should be given every possible help in maximising efficiency and delivering services. "So they were given quite amazing powers to dig up the road. That might have been sensible in the 80s, when there were only two or three privatised utilities. It looks utterly crazy today ... The whole system is a disgrace." Transport for London (TfL) and 16 of the capital's 33 boroughs are the first authorities to make use of government legislation introduced in 2007 designed to limit disruption by coordinating the road-digging timetables of all interested parties "for the same sections of road at the same time". Under the scheme, a water company wishing to dig a hole, for example, will first have to apply for a permit costing between £40 and £240 – depending upon the complexity of the works and the category of roads – which will allow TfL or the relevant council to coordinate the timing of when the roadworks will take place. The maximum fine for working without a permit will be £5,000, while the maximum for breaking the permit's conditions will be £2,500. Johnson said: "This significant step shows London has got serious about dealing with the nonsensical situation of companies being able to simply turn up and dig without a care in the world for the consequences. It will encourage the utilities to share their trenches, which will reduce disruption and Londoners' frustration." He insisted the only way for politicians to increase their "cone-busting power" is to introduce a lane-rental scheme that would see companies paying for every minute spent digging up roads. The mayor highlighted the limits of the permit scheme in his Daily Telegraph column: "You will see the flaw. Suppose you have a two-week job and you want to make sure your diggers get it done without incurring any fines. What do you do? You apply for a four-week permit, don't you? That means your boys can have a full fortnight of making tea and staring at the hole – or rather, they can have a full fortnight in which they go off and do a different job, leaving the hole untended and the drivers bending their steering wheels in frustration." The Department for Transport said a lane-rental scheme for utilities digging up the most sensitive routes was already under consideration. Sadiq Khan, the transport minister, welcomed London's take-up of the permit scheme scheme for which councils have to apply. "I hope that other councils around the country will follow," said the minister. London politics Transport Transport policy London Boris Johnson Local government Local politics Road transport Politics past Margaret Thatcher Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Warning over frozen water dangers
BBC Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:03:42 GMT
An ambulance service warns people of the dangers of venturing on to ice-covered lakes and rivers in Hertfordshire.
Plea to drivers after snow falls
BBC Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:14:01 GMT
Drivers and pedestrians are urged to take extra care on roads and by waterways after heavy snowfall hits part of Shropshire.
Hard-up Met may cut water coolers
BBC Wed, 30 Dec 2009 11:41:03 GMT
The Metropolitan Police may cut temporary staff and remove water coolers to address a yearly £255m budget deficit.
Thousands of homes without water
BBC Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:30:40 GMT
Up to 14,000 properties in the Fylde area are currently without water after a pipe burst in a field in Lancashire.
Water Purification - That Looks Familiar ... 'LifeSaver' versus 'LifeStraw' - Difference in price is HUGE
UNCULTURED August 6, 2009
The LifeStraw Family costs $35 and filters 18,000 litres of water. The LifeSaver costs well over $100 and only filters 6,000 litres of water. While it might be possible that one day in the future the LifeSaver could come down in cost, the LifeStraw Family is already at this price point and is already saving lives.
Lake escape prompts ice warning
BBC Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:43:05 GMT
Firefighters warn people not to walk on frozen water after a 70-year-old man fell through ice covering a lake near Wantage.
Water price warning from experts
BBC Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:07:42 GMT
Water users in Devon and Cornwall who have not switched to a meter could see bills rise to £900 a year, consumer experts warn.
'Poo power' cuts electricity bill
BBC Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:03:02 GMT
Thames Water warns of a potential funding gap as the recession poses "significant challenges" for the business.
Sand dams voted best solution in water crisis debate
GUARDIAN Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:33:02 GMT
Technique developed by the Romans has potential to give up to 3 million people access to clean water in the drylands of Africa, says winner
'Gaza water not fit for human consumption'
PRESSTV Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:00:04 GMT
Water in the Gaza Strip is so salty that it is no longer safe for human consumption, a senior Palestinian official in charge of water supplies in the coastal sliver says.
Campaign fights for water meadow
BBC Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:26:20 GMT
Organisers of a campaign to protect historic water meadows in Surrey hold a public meeting to discuss the sale of the 34-acre site.
Off the rails: Britain's 10 worst stations named and shamed
GUARDIAN Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:36:14 GMT
Report names Manchester Victoria, Clapham Junction and Crewe as falling short of proposed minimum standards Government advisers today named Britain's 10 worst railway stations and demanded urgent funding to bring them up to acceptable standards. Manchester Victoria, Clapham Junction and Crewe stations were named as the three worst, described as "extreme examples" of a wider problem of Victorian stations falling well short of proposed minimum standards because of neglect and lack of resources. Chris Green, a stations expert, and the planning expert Sir Peter Hall were commissioned as station champions by the transport minister, Lord Adonis, after he expressed concern about the state of stations in April. Their report will make awkward reading for ministers, describing the country's stations as "mediocre" and almost half national interchange stations falling short of proposed minimum standards. The document complained of "shabby environments, deteriorated stations and lack of real-time information". Warrington Bank Quay, Barking, Preston, Wigan North Western, Luton, Liverpool Central and Stockport made up the remainder of the list of the 10 worst stations. All scored below 50% against the proposed minimum standards on inspection visits. Green and Hall's report said the stations should have been "upgraded many years ago" but had not been because of planning problems and a lack of funding. It said the cash available for Britain's 66 interchange stations was "inadequate" and urged "priority" funding for the 10 worst, recommending a 25% increase in planned funding to £800m a year. "The downsizing of 19th century stations has not been tackled comprehensively, and many stations need one-off investment in reducing or removing buildings to make them both more user friendly and cheaper to maintain," it added. The report praised Scotland's record in improving stations as an example for England and Wales to follow. The larger, so-called A, or hub, stations fared better, with the exception of Waterloo which, the report said, suffered "some of the worst passenger congestion problems in London" while the former channel tunnel platforms remain unused. Lord Adonis welcomed the report as he began a day-long tour of the worst stations identified. "I want to see these ten stations at first hand, and to discuss their future with local rail managers and passengers groups," he said. "I am keen to make these new [minimum] standards a feature of future franchise agreements between the government and the train operating companies." Anthony Smith, the chief executive of the rail customer watchdog Passenger Focus, said: "Passengers standing on windswept platforms across Britain should be able to find out if their train is coming or not. "There are all too many stations that do not have any real-time information – and in the 21st century this is outrageous." Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said stations were "the shopfront for the railways". "This is a comprehensive report which rightly highlights that, while passenger satisfaction with stations has risen in recent years, much more needs to be done to deliver a consistently good station experience," he added. Transport Transport policy Matthew Weaver guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
People may have to go vegetarian to save planet – Stern
GUARDIAN Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:37:42 GMT
Meat wastes water, creates greenhouse gases and could become as socially unacceptable as drink-driving Eating meat could become as socially unacceptable as drink-driving because of the impact it has on global warming, according to a senior authority on climate change. Lord Stern of Brentford, former adviser to the government on the economics of climate change, said people will have to consider turning vegetarian to help reduce global carbon emissions. "Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases. It puts enormous pressure on the world's resources. A vegetarian diet is better," Stern said. Farmed ruminant animals, including cattle and sheep, are thought to be responsible for up to a quarter of "man-made" methane emissions worldwide. Stern, whose 2006 Stern Review warned that countries needed to spend 1% of their GDP to stop greenhouse gases rising to dangerous levels, said a successful deal at the climate change conference in Copenhagen in December would massively increase the cost of producing meat. People's concerns about climate change would lead to meat eating becoming unacceptable, he predicted. "I think it's important that people think about what they are doing and that includes what they are eating," he told the Times. "I am 61 now and attitudes towards drinking and driving have changed radically since I was a student. People change their notion of what is responsible. They will increasingly ask about the carbon content of their food." Stern, a former chief economist at the World Bank and now IG Patel Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, also warned that helping developing countries to cope with the adverse effects of global warming would cost British taxpayers about £3bn a year by 2015. Meanwhile, an international effort to ensure that biofuel used by Britain and other western countries to tackle global warming does not damage the environment is on the brink of collapse. The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an initiative of companies and campaigners, is divided over the need to control carbon emissions and could break up within days, insiders say. Ministers last year introduced a demand on fuel suppliers to replace 2.5% of petrol and diesel sold with biofuel, at least 8% of which is currently palm oil. The RSPO was established to set and enforce environmental standards for palm oil production, but has run into trouble after palm plantation companies in Indonesia and Malaysia blocked efforts to curb their greenhouse gas emissions. "If this issue is not resolved and greenhouse gas emissions are not included in the standard, then I don't see how the RSPO can continue to act as a certifying body," said Marcus Silvius of environment group Wetlands International, who sits on the RSPO's working group on greenhouse gases. Carbon emissions The meat industry Climate change Food Climate change David Adam David Batty guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Israel rations Palestinians to trickle of water
AMNESTY Tue, 27 Oct 2009
Amnesty International has accused Israel of denying Palestinians the right to access adequate water by maintaining total control over the shared water resources and pursuing discriminatory policies.
Israel accused of denying Palestinians access to water - Up to 200,000 families have no running water, damning Amnesty report says
INDEPENDENT Tue, 27 Oct 2009
Israel is accused today of denying the West Bank and Gaza access to adequate water through a "total" and "discriminatory" control that enables its own people to consume four times as much as the Palestinians.
Egypt media accuses Israel of zooming in on its water sources
HAARETZ Fri, 21 Aug 2009 07:50:07 GMT+03:00
"One day, Anwar Sadat asked me to publish a fictitious report," the journalist Anis Mansour, who was a close friend of the late Egyptian president, wrote two months ago. "He explained that in any case it would be impossible to do what the report said, because international agreements prohibited it. He wanted me to write that president Sadat was dreaming of the day the water of the Nile would reach Jerusalem, so that the Muslims could cleanse themselves with it before praying in Al-Aqsa. What an uproar there was in Egypt after the report appeared! 'Egypt breaks international agreements and gives water to the enemy,' his critics screamed." ...
California declares drought emergency
INDEPENDENT Sat, 28 Feb 2009 08:20:40 GMT
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency yesterday because of three years of below-average rain and snowfall in California, a step that urges urban water agencies to reduce water use by 20 percent.
Water bills 1.6% above inflation
BBC Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:01:41 GMT
Anglian Water is to increase costs by 1.6% above inflation, putting £70 on the average bill.
Israel denies Gaza access to clean water
PRESSTV Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:51:58 GMT
Israel has refused to allow a French-made water purification system into Gaza amid a drinking water crisis in the Palestinian strip.
US global dominance 'set to wane'
BBC Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:07 GMT

US economic, military and political dominance is likely to decline over the next two decades, according to a new US intelligence report on global trends.

The National Intelligence Council (NIC) predicts China, India and Russia will increasingly challenge US influence.

It also says the dollar will no longer be the world's major currency, and food and water shortages will fuel conflict.


German savings vow stuns papers - Call on black recruits to boycott the Metropolitan Police - "Starbucks wastes 23 million litres of water a day due to running taps, non-stop"
BBC Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:03:52 GMT

Comments by German Chancellor Angela Merkel over securing the money in German banks makes the main headlines.

The call on black recruits to boycott the Metropolitan Police amid claims of racism is covered by the Sun and Mail.

Describing his experience in the force, one unnamed officer tells the Guardian he had been treated worse than his parents were in the 1960s.

"Its all very well hidden," he says. "No racist words - you're just never good enough for promotion."

Water waste

The Sun claims that the Starbucks coffee chain wastes 23 million litres of water a day.

This is because staff worldwide have been told to run taps, non-stop, for hygiene reasons.


Record complaints to water firms
BBC Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:01:45 GMT
Customers' complaints about UK water companies rise by 11% in the past 12 months to the highest number ever reported
Full List of Water articles
TOP Water Videos
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Cow Sh*t to Clean Water
YOUTUBE 24 November 2008
Over 1.1 billion people in the world don't have access to clean drinking water. When I heard of a nanotech water purifier that can be used to purify water from even fecal matter contaminated...

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