Water supplies - Preserve our precious resource

The recent spell of cold weather provided a sharp and painful reminder of the value of water as a resource.

When people suddenly learned that they no longer had running water, they quickly realised how much we have all come to depend on it.

In other countries people do not need such a reminder, because they have long been aware of the value of clean drinking water, but in this country we have taken our supply for granted for too long. Most people in urban areas have grown up in conditions where a clean water supply has just been a matter of turning on a tap.