{"id":297388,"date":"2024-10-27T07:08:28","date_gmt":"2024-10-27T07:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=297388"},"modified":"2024-10-30T08:47:29","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T08:47:29","slug":"what-do-they-have-planned-for-our-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=297388","title":{"rendered":"What do they have planned for our water?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kit Knightly \u2013 The Unz Review Oct 26, 2024<\/strong><\/h1>\n

A look through the headlines suggests that \u2013 along with our money, food, communication and transport \u2013 our water supply is in line to be part of the \u201cGreat Reset\u201d remodel of society.<\/p>\n

This is hardly surprising, but maybe we don\u2019t talk about it as much as we should.<\/p>\n

For a few years now a \u201cwater crisis\u201d has been a C list headline doing the rounds in local papers and near-empty parliamentary discussions \u2013 but now suddenly it\u2019s hitting front pages proper.<\/p>\n

In March scary reports were published alleging that waterbourne diseases had increased by 60% in the last decade<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year the UK\u2019s water companies requested OfWat \u2013 the government regulator \u2013 increase the price of water.<\/p>\n

Then, earlier this week<\/a>, it was announced the price would be even higher than expected, with some areas seeing a prices raised by 84% over the next six years, prompting predictable outrage.<\/p>\n

Even as prices increase, the companies are still folding. Thames Water \u2013 the largest water company in the country \u2013 is over \u00a315 billion in debt and is desperately seeking emergency loans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re also being told that our infrastructure is dated and \u201ccreaking\u201d. Just hours ago the BBC published an \u201cin-depth read\u201d<\/a> on the UK\u2019s water infrastructure:<\/p>\n

The water industry is in crisis. Can it be fixed?<\/p>\n

Amusingly enough, this article argues that the country essentially has too much water<\/em>, and that increased rainfall causes flooding which overwhelms water treatment plants and causes sewage to leak into fresh water.<\/p>\n

So \u00a0\u2013 more rain = a water crisis. Less rain = a water crisis.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s apparently very difficult getting the amount of water right for them<\/p>\n

Top tier MSM logic.<\/p>\n

Government ministers are actually claiming the UK could face a drinking water shortage<\/a> in the near future.<\/p>\n

We might have to import water from overseas<\/a> in giant tankers!<\/p>\n

Anyway, the \u201cproblem\u201d has been clearly stated, so we\u2019re into the \u201creaction\u201d phase.<\/p>\n

Two days ago the government announced<\/a> a brand new \u201cGovernment Independent Water Commission\u201d, apparently the largest review of the water sector since it was privatised in the late eighties.<\/p>\n

A sidebar historical note on the UK\u2019s water system. It was \u201cprivatized\u201d in 1989 by Thatcher\u2019s government<\/a>, but it has never really subject to true Capitalist market forces. Rather the local water authorities<\/em> were sold and transformed into regional for-profit water companies<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Customers have no choice of water supplier, and are forced to pay local water companies whatever the government \u201cregulator\u201d says the price should be.<\/p>\n

Essentially it\u2019s a system of regional monopolies. It\u2019s a corrupt and unfair and takes advantage of ordinary people\u2026but it\u2019s been that way for thirty-five years.<\/p>\n

Call me cynical but I find it hard to imagine this \u201creview\u201d is going to be about making it less corrupt or more fair .<\/p>\n

So what is it about?<\/p>\n

Well, there\u2019s a lot of talk about renationalization. Labour ruled it out back in September<\/a>, but the press are largely in favour (even The New York Times<\/a>), so maybe Starmer will be \u201cpressured\u201d into \u201cchanging his mind\u201d.<\/p>\n

What this \u201crenationalization\u201d might look like, and exactly how much of our tax revenue will be spent on it, is hard to imagine at this point.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll have to wait for the results of the \u201creview\u201d to see what direction the narrative goes. But it\u2019s largely immaterial.<\/p>\n

Whether the UK\u2019s water is private, public or the good old private-public partnership, the end goal seems to be \u201creducing demand\u201d. At least, according to a government report from earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Back in March, the previous administration published a report titled \u201cA summary of England\u2019s revised draft regional and water resources management plans\u201d<\/a><\/em>, which details the \u201cproblem\u201d:<\/p>\n

our climate is changing, our population is growing, and as a nation we want an improved environment along with a thriving economy, enabled by resilient water supplies. Action is required now to meet these objectives
\n[\u2026]
\nWithout action, the revised draft plans indicate that by 2050 the nation\u2019s public water supply will face a shortfall of over 4,800 Ml\/d. This is the collective deficit faced across all water companies in England.<\/p>\n

\u2026before suggesting \u201csolutions\u201d [emphasis added]:<\/p>\n

Water companies have long been encouraged to look at ways of reducing demand<\/strong>, while looking for new sources of water. The latest rounds of revised draft plans reflect this twin-track approach, with almost two thirds of the water needed in 2050 coming from reductions in demand<\/strong>. Specifically, 48% of water will come from using water more efficiently and metering<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So what exactly do they mean by \u201creducing demand\u201d?<\/p>\n

Water is not a luxury and it\u2019s not something you can replace. Only water can be water and people need what they need. No, \u201creducing demand\u201d is civil servant talk for \u201creducing use\u201d.<\/p>\n

People will still demand<\/em> water, they just won\u2019t be able to get<\/em> it.<\/p>\n

\u2026that\u2019s where the \u201cmetering\u201d comes in. Smart metering, to be specific.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re probably more familiar with smart meters when it comes to energy supplies, but \u201cSmart\u201d water meters are a thing too, and they might just be the answer to our \u201ccrisis\u201d.<\/p>\n

Appendix A to the water report<\/a> above details the government targets as part of their \u201cdemand management programmes\u201d:<\/p>\n

As set out in the main report, the revised draft plans have proposed smart metering programmes as part of wider demand management programmes. This includes both installing smart meters in homes that are not metered, new homes and upgrading existing basic meters to smart meters in metered households.<\/p>\n

They aim to increase metering in general and smart metering specifically until at least 75% of homes have Smart water meters:<\/p>\n

Most companies are planning a rollout out of smart meters, with current revised draft plans achieving around 48% smart metering of households by 2030, 73% by 2040 and 76% by 2050.<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s so great about smart meters?<\/p>\n

Well, the question should be \u201cwhat\u2019s <\/em>not<\/em><\/strong> so great about smart meters?\u201d<\/em>, and the answer would be \u201cnothing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Smart meters are more accurate<\/a> than old fashioned water meters, they\u2019re more reliable<\/a>, they report readings digitally so you don\u2019t have to send people to manually read them, they \u201creduce carbon emissions\u201d<\/a> (apparently), they automatically detect leaks\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026oh, ummm\u2026and they can be shut off remotely<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know, incase of non-payment of bills or if you happen to overuse your climate-friendly net zero fresh water allowance.<\/p>\n

Yeah \u2013 so there\u2019s that<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

Just supposition on my part of course, and under current UK law<\/a> it\u2019s actually legally difficult to shut off someone\u2019s water, but laws can be changed. Or just ignored \u2013 if you happen to be a government-backed water monopoly with \u00a0a bottomless budget for dealing with legal challenges.<\/p>\n

Nobody has used the word \u201crationing\u201d yet (at least not about water<\/a>), but it\u2019s hard not to hear it on the wind when remote-shut off smart meters are being billed as a solution to \u201cincreased demand\u201d and we\u2019re living under the cloud (so to speak) of\u00a0fake \u201cclimate change\u201d.<\/p>\n

And, of course, it won\u2019t be isolated to the UK. It never is. Globally the Smart water meter market<\/a> is predicted to grow from just over a billion dollars in 2018, to $3.8 billion last year to over $7 billion by 2031 on the back of initiatives across the EU and North America.<\/p>\n

The water aspect of The Great Reset is still in its early stages, but it\u2019s hard to see it going anywhere good.<\/p>\n

Another spoke in \u00a0the wheel. Another means to an end. A little more writing on the wall.<\/p>\n

How long do we just sit here and watch it happen?<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Along with food, water is essential to live. Kit Knightly examines how the powers that be are striving to monopolise control over it, just as they are doing with food. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":297389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-297388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-Current_Affairs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=297388"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":297440,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297388\/revisions\/297440"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/297389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=297388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=297388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=297388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}