Alarm has been raised concerning the growing demands, yet limited supplies, for potable water, as well as the increasing rate of energy consumption for pumping water from aquifers. Over-abstraction from rivers and beneath the ground is causing environmental damage, Greater thrift is needed in the use of water together with the harnessing of non-conventional water sources to satisfy the deficit in national water supplies. The following should be considered:- waste-water treatment and reuse; brackish-water desalination by the use, as the energy source, of either locally-available oil shale or waste heat from electric-power stations; systematic rainwater collection where feasible; and employing increased water-storage capacity to help satisfy needs which occur much later than supplies. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.
