Utility Week

Community way. "As the weather is getting colder, the rats are moving in. They will move closer to food supplies indoors and look for somewhere warm to nest – that means people's homes." For those of you who like your metaphors laid on with a trowel, at least it proves that Britain is no sinking ship. In fact if the tale gets much more trac- tion, it is surely only a matter of time before the Daily Mail sticks a rat on its cover with a photo- shopped Union Jack waistcoat. Water-saving advice While the worry in the UK is that we face a future with too much water, for other countries it's the opposite: drought. Oddly, that list appears to include Norway, a country renowned for snow. Frode Hult, from the Water and Sewer Agency in Oslo, hit the local news for suggesting that the need for Norwegians to save water was so great that peo- ple should urinate in the shower. His other bright idea was that people could brush their teeth in the shower too. Marius Fjellas, who works for Trondheim council, commented: "It's not what I'd start with… But of course it is good if we can save a little." What is true is that Norway uses on average nearly twice the amount of water per capita than Disconnector Publishing director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellenbennett@fav-house.com; Content director: Jane Gray, janegray@fav-house.com, t: 01342 333004; Editor: Suzanne Heneghan, t: 01342 332106, e: suzanneheneghan@fav-house.com Digital editor: James Wallin, 01342 332015, jameswallin@fav-house.com; Intelligence editor: Denise Chevin, 01342 332087, denisechevin@fav-house.com Energy correspondent: Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@ fav-house.com; Reporter: Adam John, t: 01342 332069, e: adamjohn@fav-house.com; Water correspondent: Ruth Williams, e: ruthwilliams@fav-house.com, t: 01342 332069 Production editor: Paul Newton, t: 01342 332085, e: paulnewton@fav-house.com; Business development manager: Ben Hammond, e: benhammond@fav-house.com. t: 01342 332116; Business development executive: Sarah Wood, e: sarahwood@fav-house.com. t: 01342 332117 Conference sponsorship manager: Sophie Abbott, t: 01342 332062, e: sophieabbott@fav-house.com; General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332057, e: peterbissell@fav-house.com. 2,500 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2018 Membership subscriptions: UK £769+VAT per year. Overseas £781 per year. Contact Peter Bissell on: 01342 332057 Utility Week is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), the regulator of the UK's magazine and newspaper industry. We abide by the Editors' Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think we have not met those standards and want to make a complaint, please contact the Editor. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you want more information about IPSO or the Editors' Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, recently Œ nished a two-year investigation in collaboration with the US into the Russian hacker group Turla. It found that the Russian cyber espionage group had hacked into Oilrig, an Iranian cyber espionage group, in order to launch cyber attacks on Western targets disguised as the Iranian group, whose primary purpose of course is itself to launch cyber attacks on Western targets. Of course, this assumes that GCHQ hasn't been played for a sucker and it is in fact the Chi- nese hacking into Russian cyber spies pretending to be Iranian cyber spies. Or that someone else entirely hasn't hacked into the FT to plant the story. Smersh perhaps. Or maybe Doctor Evil. And why not? Doctor Evil and Austin Powers seem appropriate in a world where Boris Johnson is the British prime minister. I smell a rat Some tabloids have recently been warning that we could soon Œ nd our homes inundated with millions of rats as more extreme weather events result in – oods that drive them from their nests. The Sun quoted Paul Bates of Cleankill Pest Control as warning about a "rat blitzkrieg" heading our Aimless alliteration As Utility Week goes to press, Super Saturday has meandered into Meaningful Monday and despite a now almost perma- nent siren wail of treachery, infamy and imminent civil unrest, nothing has actually happened. Again. Disconnector is going out on a limb here to predict that readers will have endured a Tedious Tuesday and a Weary Wednesday before this magazine hits the door- mat. During which time the din will continue but there will still be nothing happening. On the other hand, perhaps we ought to be glad. Although the general consensus seems to be that any course of action would be better than this end- less stalemate, the great man feels obliged to point out that there are plenty of courses of action that could leave us look- ing back nostalgically on this period as a gentle time when the country was only meta- phorically at war with itself. All the signs are that come the next general election, or referendum, or whatever plebi- scite, we will not be alone. Over on social media, the Twit- ter bot factories and Facebook fake accounts are multiplying exponentially, all ready to make sure the hotheads have no lack of fuel to feed their angry indignation. UTILITY WEEK | 25TH - 31ST OCTOBER 2019 | 31 near neighbour Denmark, so there are clearly some wasteful habits to be addressed. But if Disconnector may be so bold, perhaps a variable – ush loo or being more mindful of how you use the dishwasher might be an easier place to start – and will ensure your shower doesn't get covered in toothpaste or smell of wee. Rebels without a clue Eco-activist group Extinction Rebellion make much of their – at structure, without a deŒ ned hierarchy or leadership. It makes them di™ cult to combat. But sometimes a hierarchy is useful for, say, weeding out bad ideas. Recently the group scored an own goal on the PR front by trying to stop tube trains in London by clambering on top of them. It only served to annoy a lot of Londoners trying to get to work, and at least one chap was pulled down from the train roof and roughed up a bit. Last week, activists went one better by gluing them- selves to the doors of Dock- lands Light Railway trains, which happen to be electric and are therefore among the greenest ways to travel. A video promptly went viral of one elderly commuter giving a protester a piece of his mind. "Muppets," was his verdict. Trondheim council, commented: "It's not what I'd start with… can save a little." nearly twice the amount

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