**Could water become a growing problem for UK theme parks?**
Chessington World of Adventures has had to close because of problems with its water supply — and it got me thinking about Universal United Kingdom Resort.
With the UK experiencing increasingly hot and dry spells, could reliable water supplies become an even bigger consideration for major attractions in the years ahead?
Universal is obviously going to be on a completely different scale, with millions of visitors expected every year. That means an enormous demand for water — drinking water, toilets, restaurants, hotels, cleaning, landscaping and everything else required to operate a huge resort.
Interestingly, we already know that water resilience is being built into the Bedford project.
Universal's plans include substantial on-site water infrastructure, including a water treatment facility designed to allow water to be treated, reused and recycled rather than relying on drinking-quality mains water for absolutely everything.
And then there's all that water around the site itself — including the existing lakes and the planned show lagoon within the resort — although having a lake next door obviously doesn't automatically solve the problem of supplying safe drinking water to thousands of guests!
Chessington's closure isn't evidence that Universal will have the same problem, and today's issue wasn't simply caused by hot weather. But it does raise an interesting question about how prepared Britain's biggest attractions are for the future.
**As our summers potentially become hotter and drier,
And could Universal's ability to recycle and reuse water on site ultimately become far more important than we currently realise?
Let me know what you think.
