I recently received a glossy leaflet from Southern Water, warning, yet again, there is going to be a water shortage this year.

The document was a pathetic attempt to blame everybody and everything else as to the cause for the water shortage.

It even had a little question-andanswer section which tried to dispute all arguments that there was anything the company could do to rectify the problem, except pump water out of nearby rivers, thus threatening local wildlife.

It did mention water desalination plants but claimed they would require too much energy to run. The obvious answer would be to power the desalination plants using solar energy.

This is a proven and practical solution because the water from the desalination plants could be used to top up the reservoirs, so it wouldn't be necessary for them to generate water 24 hours a day.

-P Seymour, Portslade