UK households told to delete emails due to 'nationally significant incident'

Households up and down the UK are being told to delete their emails due to a 'nationally significant incident' which is threatening water supplies.

The government convened its National Drought Group on Monday to discuss the 'nationally significant incident' which has led to five areas of the UK being placed into official drought status, following the driest six months on record since 1976.

Despite some periods of heavy rain in July, many rivers and reservoirs in England continued to drop compared to the month before. The National Drought Group - which includes the Met Office, government, regulators, water companies, the National Farmers' Union, Canal & River Trust, anglers, and conservation experts - used the meeting to highlight the water-saving measures each sector is taking and praised people in Yorkshire for reducing usage by 10% due to the hosepipe ban across its four counties.

Among the advice issued by the Environment Agency on Thursday on the back of the meeting, households were told to delete their emails to help out water supplies.

The Environment Agency's Director of Water and NDG chair, Helen Wakeham said: "The current situation is nationally significant, and we are calling on everyone to play their part and help reduce the pressure on our water environment.

"Water companies must continue to quickly fix leaks and lead the way in saving water. We know the challenges farmers are facing and will continue to work with them, other land users, and businesses to ensure everyone acts sustainably.

"We are grateful to the public for following the restrictions, where in place, to conserve water in these dry conditions. Simple, everyday choices - such as turning off a tap or deleting old emails - also really helps the collective effort to reduce demand and help preserve the health of our rivers and wildlife."

According to tech and science site The Verge, the reason deleting old emails helps with water supplies is thought to be due to data centres using water for cooling.

It said: "A small data centre has been estimated to use upwards of 25 million liters of water per year if it relies on old-school cooling methods that allow water to evaporate. To be sure, tech companies have worked for years to find ways to minimise their water use by developing new cooling methods. Microsoft, for example, has tried placing a data centre at the bottom of the sea and submerging servers in fluorocarbon-based liquid baths.

"Generating electricity for energy-hungry data centres also uses up more water since fossil fuel power plants and nuclear reactors also need water for cooling and to turn turbines using steam, an issue that transitioning to more renewable energy can help to address."

Periods of dry weather and low rivers reduce oxygen levels in water that can lead to fish kills and more algal blooms. Lower river flows also prevent wildlife from moving up or downstream.

Drying out wetlands can be devastating for species that depend on those habits while England has seen an increase in wildfires, devastating vulnerable areas of heathland and moorland.

Rainstorms and showers helped mask the fact that July was still the fifth warmest on record.

August has started to see a return of drier conditions and the fourth heatwave of the summer - putting more pressure on already struggling public water supplies and navigational waterways.

On the back of the issue, farmers have called for more investment into water infrastructure.

NFU Vice-President, Rachel Hallos said: "British farmers and growers continue to face extremely dry conditions, with harvest underway and crop yields proving mixed across the country. Some farms are reporting a significant drop in yields, which is financially devasting for the farm business and could have impacts for the UK's overall harvest.

"Farming is a long-term industry and there is growing concern about the months ahead. Minimal grass growth means many livestock farmers are already tapping into winter feed stocks, raising the risk of higher production costs later in the year.

"Access to clean, reliable water is essential for food production. What's worked well during this drought has been early, coordinated communication with stakeholders around licence restrictions and drought permits and orders and it's crucial this continues.

"To avoid the swing between extreme drought and flooding and to secure water supplies for food production, we urgently need investment in water infrastructure and a more effective planning system."