Blame privatised water firms for hosepipe bans | Lettters

Gillian Metheringham, Dr Gillian Austen and others respond to articles about water shortages in the UK and the high and rising pay of water industry bosses I was dismayed, when reading your article about hosepipe bans leading to culture wars (‘People are scared their neighbours will call the police on them’: how the hosepipe ban got caught up in the culture wars, 23 July), by the part that said: “Why has the ban been put in place, anyway? The answer, as with so many things, is the climate crisis.” No, it’s not. The climate crisis is only part of the answer, and probably the smaller part. The privatised water companies have, over many years, privileged the lining of their own pockets over proper maintenance and improvement of the water systems, a fact which has been revealed again and again in your own pages. As a result, hosepipe bans are needed far more often than they would be if we were just looking at climate change as a cause. Indeed, the article goes on to reflect some of these sentiments, but they come from the gardeners who were interviewed. If we go on referencing climate change and “unusual conditions” to excuse the despicable behaviour of the water companies, we are coll