In the Guardian today:
You get up and go to the loo, only to find the flush doesn’t work. You try the shower, except nothing comes out. You want a glass of water, but on turning the tap there is not a drop. Your day stumbles on, stripped of its essentials: no washing hands, no cleaning up the baby, neither tea nor coffee, no easy way to do the dishes or the laundry. Dirt accumulates; tempers fray.
The water company texts: we are so sorry; colleagues are working to restore connection; everything should soon be normal. You want to believe them, but the more it’s repeated, the more it becomes a kind of hold music. There’s no supply the next day, and the day after, and the day after that. Each morning brings with it the same chest-tightening question: what will happen today? Buckets and bottles don’t stop you feeling grubby and smelly, or from noticing the taint on your family and friends and neighbours. You’re not quite the people you thought you were and nothing feels normal.
For some of you reading this, statistics suggest the above has already happened to you, and recently. For others, the modelling implies it could soon be your future.
Last week, Tunbridge Wells went without running water for days on end, for the second time this winter. Over the course of this decade, the town has suffered a run of outages and on-off supply, or what South East Water is pleased to call “resilience issues”. The experiences above were shared by residents, including one woman who showed me some of the chats on her street’s WhatsApp group. Amid the neighbourly efforts to help one another, what jumps out is how quickly social norms break down.
There’s not a word on Scotland in the above piece and the Daily Record‘s Motherwell page is best avoided if you are of a sensitive disposition.
Why are the good folk of Motherwell not likely to face the Tunbridge Wells water shortages?
This:
How much more fresh water does Scotland have than in England where Tunbridge Wells gets its tap water?
Scotland’s Loch Ness alone contains 7,452 million cubic meters of water, which is more than the combined volume of all lakes and reservoirs in England and Wales.
https://www.environment.gov.scot/our-environment/water/scotland-s-freshwater/ https://www.nature.scot/landscapes-and-habitats/habitat-types/lochs-rivers-and-wetlands/freshwater-lochs
England and Wales, by contrast, have far fewer natural lakes, with reservoirs like Rutland Water (12.5 km²) and Kielder Reservoir being among the largest, but their total volume is significantly less than Scotland’s.
http://www.fao.org/3/T0798E16.htm
Scotland’s water reserves are estimated at 5,500,000 liters per person, compared to England’s 134,000 litres per person, highlighting a vast disparity due to Scotland’s smaller population (around 5.5 million) and abundant resources compared to England’s larger population (around 56 million). Scotland is often cited as having around 90% of the UK’s freshwater resources, largely due to its extensive loch system and higher rainfall (averaging 1,500–3,000 mm annually compared to England’s lower averages, particularly in the south). https://www.studycountry.com/wiki/does-scotland-have-more-fresh-water-than-england https://www.thenational.scot/news/19515230.big-corporations-could-make-scotlands-water-next-oil/
Globally?
According to the US Geological Study, there’s around 1 200 to 1 500 litres of drinkable accessible water per person globally: https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-much-natural-water-there
Scots have around 3 666 times as much.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Yep in England, you just rely on having drinkable wwater, or any at all in fact. Amazing folks put up with England’s water remaining in private hands.
Thanks goodness the SNP kept Scottish Water in public hands. Remember that English Labour MSP who said ‘take Scottish water back into public ‘ands’. That guy was given a huge platform to spout utter lies.
This looks dreadful, part of London today, no water, burst pipes…crikey.
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