A bubble bath a day keeps the pests at bay

SIR – In 1970 my husband was posted to Oman, so I and our two young children accompanied him. Water was in short supply (Letters, July 30), but bathing them was never a problem as our Goanese cook had rigged up a method of watering his vegetables from the bathroom waste pipe. He said the children’s Matey bubble bath was “very good to keep pests away”.

He also made perfect meringues, which he cooked for 12 hours in the shade at 45C to 50C.

Margaret Hirst

Cowes, Isle of Wight

SIR – Water companies are starting to impose hosepipe restrictions on their customers. Can I suggest that their customers now impose a bonus ban for the chairman and other senior executives until they have reduced the leaks (Letters, July 30) by 75 per cent? Geoff Hughes

Andover, Hampshire

SIR – Surely what is needed is a detailed, three-dimensional hydrostatic computer model of the whole UK, variable by season, and able to accommodate future weather changes and to include drainage capacity to facilitate the management of flooding.

When completed, it would inform the development of a nationwide scheme of reservoirs, pipelines, filtration plants and pumping stations, which would ultimately enable our water supplies and drainage systems to be rebalanced, to everyone’s benefit.

All this would take time, money and political commitment. The resultant installation programme may also have to be phased, but given climate change and the current inadequacies in water management, such a scheme is surely more urgently required than certain high-speed rail links, for example. Michael Allisstone

Sidlesham, West Sussex

SIR – In this very dry weather, may I encourage everyone to put water out for the birds.

W Duncan Ogilvie

Bristol