It obviously doesn't work, desalination works.

I have worked on a reverse osmosis unit (to produce demineralised water for industry) and I maintain that this is not the right solution.

Great Britain is not an oil rig or a desert devoid of fresh water. It does not have cheap energy such as natural gas to produce electricity at low cost. Nor is it Israel, which has only the Jordan River and reuses every litre of water two to three times.

The UK has chosen to delegate the maintenance of its water and sanitation network to private operators who chronically underinvest in the maintenance, renewal and improvement of the network.

That's the bloody problem. Injecting a little fresh water from desalination into a leaky network by importing natural gas for the necessary energy is a monumental waste.

Desalination is at the bottom of the list of things to be addressed.