THAMES WATER MUST FIX LEAKY PIPES BEFORE CONSIDERING DESALINATION PLANT

12.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 19th Apr 2005

Commenting on Ken Livingstone's decision to refuse permission to Thames Water to build a desalination plant, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Environment Spokesperson, Mike Tuffrey, said:

"Before Thames Water embarks on such an ambitious project they need to reduce leakages and reduce demand for piped water or we are just storing up problems for the future. The desalination plant would require enormous amounts of energy to convert salt water to pure water and this could leave lasting damage on the environment.

"Simply increasing the supply of water, whether through flooding parts of the countryside for new reservoirs or through building energy intensive desalination plants, has significant environmental impacts."

ENDS