The head of Britain’s Environmental Agency said Sunday that people need to be “less squeamish” about drinking water sourced from sewage.
Sir James Bevan outlined his unorthodox desires to avoid severe droughts in an article published by the Sunday Times. Much of Britain experienced record-breaking hot and dry weather throughout 2022’s summer months, leading to rivers and reservoirs running significantly lower than usual, Bevan noted in his piece.
He argued that the country is on its way toward what he calls the “Jaws of Death,” where water supplies won’t be able to meet increased demands of the public, businesses, farmers and nature in roughly 20 years’ time.
“We will need to be less squeamish about where our drinking water comes from. Part of the solution will be to reprocess the water that results from sewage treatment and turn it back into drinking water — perfectly safe and healthy, but not something many people fancy,” Bevan wrote in the article.
The Boss of the Environment Agency, James Bevan, says we need to be “less squeamish” about drinking water derived from sewage.
James, you neck a pint of water derived from sewage live on TV and we’ll go from there …
— Graham Simmons (@grahamjsimmons) August 28, 2022
Bevan has been the chief executive of Britain’s Environment Agency since 2015. He urged the Agency and other regulators to be faster in their decision-making when it comes to tackling potential impending drought conditions.
Multiple water companies across the British Isles have enforced a hosepipe ban due to low supplies of water throughout England and Wales, The Guardian reported. A lack of rainfall and excessive heatwaves have dried underground water supplies, the outlet noted.