The Environment Agency reported in May that already overstretched sources, combined with climate change and a growing population, could see significant water supply shortages by the 2050s, particularly in the South East of England.

So if you are 25 now, by the time you are 57, you might not have enough water for all your needs.

Shamefully, one third of water taken from rivers and lakes – approximately three billion litres a day – is wasted through leaks, treatment losses and in the home.

Here are some facts:

*There is no more water on the planet now than when life began

*To the best of human understanding, life can only exist with water

*Water regulates the Earth’s temperature

*If the world’s water were fit into a 4 litre jug, the fresh water available for us would be about one tablespoon

*Each Briton uses about 150 litres of tap water a day, but including water embedded within products, our consumption increases to about 3,400 litres a day

*If the entire adult population of England and Wales turned off the tap when brushing their teeth, we could save 180 million litres a day – enough to supply nearly 500,000 homes

*Dripping taps waste at least 5,500 litres of water a year: that's enough to fill a paddling pool every week for the whole summer

*If everyone in the UK cut one minute off their shower we would save 1,420 million litres of water a year

The huge increase in house numbers, particularly in the South East, will not help matters!

In England, almost 9,500 billion litres of freshwater were abstracted from ground and surface sources in 2016.

Around 55 per cent of that was by utilities to provide public supplies.

This leaves our rivers, particularly chalk streams, most of which are unique to the UK, very vulnerable.

Emma Howard Boyd, chairwoman of the Environment Agency, said: "We need to change our attitudes to water use. Water is fundamental to ensure a healthy environment but we are taking too much of it."

She said water companies must invest more in infrastructure to address leakage instead of relying on abstraction to make up this shortfall.

To help, we can get more water butts in gardens, not wash the car so often and water the garden with the bath water. We all have a duty to use water more wisely.