§ Mr. Onslowasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what studies are being made of the feasibility of extracting water from underground sources as an alternative to extraction from rivers or the construction of reservoirs.
§ Mr. Denis HowellA substantial part of the research effort of the Water Research Centre and the Central Water Planning Unit in conjunction with the water authorities is being directed to the development of water-bearing strata, to groundwater pollution and to artificial recharge of aquifers. Among the studies in progress are investigations into development of the underground resources of the chalk in the south of the country, East Anglia and Yorkshire, of the sandstones of the Cotswolds, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire and of the sandstones in the Midlands, Yorkshire and the North-West. Artificial re-charge of the chalk is being investigated in the London Basin and at134W Hardham in Sussex and of the sand-stones in the Midlands. At present about 35 per cent. of the public water supply in England and Wales is derived from underground sources.