The prospect of a drought-filled future

Whilst it's difficult to remember the glorious early summer we experienced amongst all these July showers, I saw on the news recently that they were comparing the heat of June 2023 to the heat of the summer of 1976 - does anyone remember this one? 

Temperatures hit 27°C across the UK for several consecutive days resulting in hundreds of failing crops, great swathes of wetland wildlife perishing and thousands of people suffering heat exhaustion – 400 alone were treated for this condition at Wimbledon in 1976.

Inevitably a national drought was declared across the entire country, with the government actually rationing water and encouraging people to ‘Save Water, bath with a friend’ - can you imagine that today?! You can read more about that historical summer here.
 
Fast forward almost 50 years, last month was the UK’s hottest June on record and there are talks that a ‘Drought is on the verge of becoming the next pandemic’, according to a recent article in The Guardian. As environmental writer and author, Tim Smedley says in his article; “Like many parts of the world, we are now using more water than we can sustainably supply. As surface water and groundwater levels dwindle year by year, a crisis awaits. It’s simple maths. Demand is outstripping supply.”
 
So, what do we do? Does the Government have the authority to actually ration water in 2023? Will we be told to once again ‘bath with a friend’? Is it too late to reverse the damage done? Is there money available for the water companies to invest into more effective storage systems and pipework?  
 
There are some huge, wide scale solutions that need to be established in order for no more repeats of the summer of 1976. And as a united collective, plenty of smaller scale adaptations can also be made. I wonder though, that maybe individually some people don’t feel that turning the tap off while brushing their teeth will not stop the field of barley two miles up the road from drying out.
 
However many years we say it, it still remains a fact: If every body could make a small change, it can have a huge impact. If the 67 million inhabitants of the UK (okay, let’s remove all those beautiful gummy babies) ... 66 million inhabitants of the UK all turned off their taps while brushing their teeth, we are talking Olympic swimming pool sized differences. 
 
If half of those 66 million inhabitants had a shower everyday using a ShowerBoB ASOS Digital Shower Meter or a ShowerBoB Eco Shower Timer or even a ShowerBoB Curve Eco Showerhead, the litres of water saved each day could well be enough to prevent the next drought.
 
So, while you take your next morning shower, think about all the other millions of people doing the exact same thing and the expanse of water that is used AND can be saved. And then think about what it would feel like to not be able to do that day in, day out due to nationwide water shortage. I don't think I'll be calling up my friends for a bath share anytime soon!
 
At ShowerBoB, we're all about doing our part for the environment. That's why we created our water and energy-saving products to help you reduce your bathroom and kitchen usage - saving water, energy and money.
 
Let's take a step together towards a greener, drought-free future!
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