A WATER company has plans to ship drinking water from Norway after a severe drought was declared.
Around 280,000 residents served by South East Water face running out next month.
And the firm’s extreme proposals include using sea tankers to bring in supplies from overseas.
South East’s emergency Level Four will be hit when Ardingly reservoir, which is just 19 per cent full, nears empty.
No water company has ever imported drinking water from abroad, though has previously drawn up similar plans.
South East Water bosses say just four to six weeks’ supply remains at Ardingly, West Sussex, following the hottest summer on record.
The extreme proposals include: “Import of potable water using sea tankers. Supplies are typically from overseas, such as .”
The company’s other severe drought schemes include standpipes on the street — last seen in 1976 — and shipping container desalination plants, turning seawater into drinking water.
Nick Price, the head of water resources at said: “While importing water from Norway is listed within our drought plan, it is strictly a last-resort contingency option.
“It is not an action currently being considered.
“We have more teams than ever working to find and fix leaks, have undertaken changes to our network and implemented other measures, including reducing the amount of water released from Ardingly.”
The company has also applied to extend hosepipe restrictions.
