CLIMATE change and a rising population mean that England is facing the “jaws of death,” where demand for water could surpass the supply available in the next 25 years.

Sir James Bevan, 59, chief executive of the Environment Agency, said that the U.K. could have a water shortage by 2044.

Speaking before the Waterwise conference in London, Sir Bevan added that water leakage was also to blame for the loss of water in the U.K.

In England and Wales, a third of the water comes from aquifers, underground sources, with this figure being at 6 percent for Northern Ireland and 3 percent for Scotland.

The rest comes from reservoirs, lakes, and rivers.

Bevan said that action needs to be taken urgently. “We need water wastage to be as socially unacceptable as blowing smoke in the face of a baby or throwing your plastic bags into the sea.”

Bevan said that people need to cut water use by a third while water companies need to cut down leakage from their pipes by 50 percent.

(SD-Agencies)