Water, water everywhere

Severn Trent loses 497 million litres of water per day in leaks. To put that large number in some sort of context, one person uses 150 litres of water a day on average. It is leakage on an epic scale but the problem is not easily solved because there is so much that can go wrong, a vast underground network of pipes, lots of which are many years old.

However, given the above, one would hope that Severn Trent would deal urgently with leaks when they are reported. Instead, we learn from a shop owner in Newfoundpool that he reported a burst pipe on Tuesday morning, which, at the time of writing, has still not been fixed.

That is a long time for water to be pumping out of the ground. He was told that workers could not get to the leak because there were cars in the road. As the shop owner points out, however, this is always going to be the case in a residential area. The answer is to ask people to move them.

We are constantly reminded that water is a precious commodity – and indeed it is – but allowing it to leak into a street for so long does not exactly give that impression.

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We hear a lot of stories in the media about young people behaving badly. Cumulatively, that tends to give a false impression. Most young people are obviously not like that at all. So, the Mercury tries to redress the balance by celebrating the many examples of outstanding achievement.

Over the past few weeks we have been doing that specifically through our Young Achiever Awards initiative. It is a new scheme which has been supported by a number of sponsors who also want to celebrate all that is good about young people. We have received many fantastic nominations and we are delighted to have been able to highlight lots of great achievements. Good luck to those who have entered and our thanks to the sponsors for making it all possible.

The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal was launched in Leicestershire yesterday. The terrible legacy of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq mean public support is more important than ever. Please give generously and wear your poppy with pride.