New Delhi, Aug. 16 -- As the UK faces worsening drought conditions, environmental officials are calling on the public to take small steps to conserve water. Among the suggestions: delete old emails and unused photos. The reason, they explained, is that data centres which store this content require vast amounts of water to cool their systems.

Helen Wakeham, Environment Agency Director of Water, said: "The current situation is nationally significant, and we are calling on everyone to play their part and help reduce the pressure on our water environment. Simple, everyday choices, such as turning off a tap or deleting old emails, also really helps the collective effort to reduce demand and help preserve the health of our rivers and wildlife....