As the UK introduces hosepipe bans to preserve water this summer, the i newspaper reports:

Sir John Armitt, chair of the UK’s National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), has warned that up to £20bn must be spent over the next decade plugging leaky pipes and bringing in water meters to avoid households having to queue for bottled water on the street during heatwaves.

Sir John warned that the UK’s water system is not ready to cope with the coming impacts of climate change, with almost three million litres of water lost every single day because of leaking pipes.

FNN has learned that higher levels of CO2 in the water leads to increased pressure in water pipes causing ruptures and water loss. So the only solution is to remove CO2 from water rather than invest some of the billions in profit that water companies make into improve their piping.

A water company spokesperson told FNN:

People think the 'standing charge' on their water bills is to pay for stuff like piping. But it is not. The standing charge is just a charge levied on every bill to get more money from consumers. Duh!

EU spokesperson Ursula Von Richthofen commented:

Here in the EU we are investigating how to use smart water meters to restrict water supply to properties where the meter detects a hosepipe is being used. This is all part of our 'regulate everything' strategy. Vorsprung Durch Teknik!