LONDON, 17 May 2006 - Britain's biggest water supplier, Thames Water, is seriously considering towing icebergs from the Arctic to London to solve what could be the worst shortage in a century, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

"We have to look at any possible alternative, including towing icebergs from the Arctic and seeding rain clouds," Richard Aylard, of Thames Water, was quoted as saying The Times at a meeting Tuesday in London.

Admitting that many people might find the idea "daft," he could not rule out using icebergs. Thames Water has not determined whether it would make most sense to bring in icebergs from Greenland or northern Scandinavia, he added.
Aylard said other plans included transporting water across the North Sea by tanker from Scandinavia.

"Tankers from Scotland and Norway are something that has been looked at. If we get into an emergency situation that's the kind of thing we would be looking at," he said.

He said that bringing water by road has been considered but all but rejected, because it would not be a feasible way to supply quickly millions of people.

Thames Water, a unit of Germany's RWE group, provides sewage services to 13 million people and drinking water to eight million over a 12,949-square-kilometre area in southern England, including London.

Britain this week issued its first drought order in 11 years.

Environment minister Ian Pearson gave southeast English utility company Sutton and East Surrey Water the order Monday, effectively curbing or banning outright non-essential uses of water in the area it serves for six months.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman said Tuesday that the onus was on privately-owned utilities to implement water-saving measures, and it had encouraged them to tackle issues like leakages.

Some 13 million people in southeast England are already subject to water restrictions - some since last year - as two successive dry winters have left reservoirs and underwater aquifers sorely depleted.