So, what’s the problem?

Having clean, safe water ‘on tap’ is something we all take for granted. But in the southeast of England, the rain that provides our water has become less reliable than in the past. Climate change has ment that sometimes there is far less rain than usual, causing drought, or we see torrential downpours leading to flooding more often.

For two of the past three years there has been much lower than average winter rainfall. Winter rain recharges underground water sources, and 70% of the southeast's supply comes from these. Demand for water has increased each year - it;s now 50% higher per person than 20 years ago.

The population of the southeast continues to increase, with more house building planned. Roads and paving cut the area of ground that rain water can soak into, and more complex systems of drainage have to be designed to try to alleviate flooding.

We think that young people can make a real impact in communicating issues of climate change and our water use, and at the same timecan develop their ICT skills. This is the starting point for H2knOw.

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