Dally wrote:
My issue with it is that in a tiny country like here, with big population centres close by, the environmental and health consequences of contamination of the water table could be catastrophic. Could make Fukushima look like a fart in the playground.
Contamination of the water table must be a major concern but how many large urban populations in the North depend on underground aquifers for their water?
I don't actually know but my guess would be that most get their water from reservoirs on higher ground e.g. Thirlmere in Cumbria supplies a lot to Manchester, Kielder to the NorthWest etc etc.
Happy to be corrected if someone here can tell us.
[EDIT] I'm wrong, a quick google tells me that e.g. in Yorkshire, the flatter areas in the East Riding Riding do use an awful lot of groundwater ... plus there is the effect of the grid which moves water around the region.[/EDIT]
As I see it at the moment, the greatest water pollution threat is a) To natural water courses such as rivers and springs etc and everything that lives in them ... and b) To farms etc that use water from below ground to irrigate crops or provide drinking water for herds and flocks.
That's in addition to the problems caused by taking water from whatever source to facilitate the fracking.
Considering the erratic droughting and flooding we see nowadays, it would seem that we need the water we have, do we really have that much to spare?
Again, happy to be corrected.
