With the ongoing droughts in southern and eastern parts of England, there has been much discussion about water conservation among political leaders and residents of the affected areas. One of the main issues is the problem of water leakage from thousands of miles of pipeline.
Geoff Loader, director of communications for sewage company Southern Water, told the BBC his company is working hard to address the issue, but argued that there will always be problems.
"The system is something like 13,000km long, it's got millions of joints in it, every one is a potential leak," he said.
There has been strong criticism of Southern Water for not dealing with the problem in a timely manner. Caroline Lucas of the Green Party spoke out against the company, saying it should invest some of its earnings into finding a faster solution, according to the BBC.
With the drought now expected to last through Christmas, the Environment Agency has been vocal about the need for all Britons to enact water conservation methods at their homes and businesses.
"As more areas of the UK move into drought it is vital that we use less water to protect the public's water supply in the driest areas of the country," Caroline Spelman, environment secretary for the agency, told the Press Association.
