It is all very well for Rob Hustwayte to extol the efforts of the public regarding the need to save water (The Argus, October 5) but I'm afraid if he was a businessman, he would sing a very different song.

In business one cannot to just stand still or blame someone else or prevailing conditions for failing to perform and a water company is no different it's still a company, albeit a very privileged one, being a monopoly.

Instead of muttering about drought for next year if lack of rain, they should get down to some serious thought about improving production by securing other sources.

Desalination is a well proven and effective means of eliminating drought but it does involve putting people first the customers not the shareholders.

I won't go into the various countries or ships that have desalinated for decades or remind you of the 1992 NRA report that desalination plants using power station waste heat is cheaper than current methods.

I'm sure the water companies know this. Suffice to say we cannot allow the water authorities to continue underperforming and blaming the public or lack of rain.

These almost annual excuses have had their day and I feel the Government should take firmer action and force these authorities to improve or be taken into public ownership, where people will come first.

Incidentally, we've had three pipe failures since June, one a five-inch main and the last a nine-inch main. Can you imagine how many baths these would have filled?

Harold E Parkin

-Stonehill, Horam, Heathfield