The UK’s water watchdogs are not fit for purpose

John Cage's Organ2/ As Slow As Possible will last for 639 years , ending in 2640 .

By 2050 , the UK will be facing a shortfall of nearly 5 billion litres per day.

Britain has not built a major reservoir for more than 30 years , the last one having been completed in 1992 .

In an interview with the New Statesman this week , Reed told George Eaton that regulation had been the problem, in that in a system which will probably have to remain privatised.

It is regulatory failure that has allowed the long-running crisis of underinvestment to develop, Reed says.