Moving water by the canals

I HAVE attempted to sort out the process of getting water from Minworth down to Luton as given, writes John Smedley.

And am totally confused!  It tells it is using the Grand Union, but that forms only a small part it actually starting from Minworth and up the rising 16 locks in Atherstone, for starters, and others.

Need more pumps

But what happens, as you stated, these locks go bust, as many do?  Or a breach? It will need more pumps like your picture of the Llangollen breach shows.

And what of the sludge in the various canals that gets stirred-up when a boat goes too near the side, pushed over by lack of tree cutting?  It will certainly need a great deal of water treatment as well as dredging.

Then there are the many junctions with other waterways, unlike the Llangollen that carries water which has no major junctions, and then there is the 'split' where the Grand Union goes two ways near the capital. should it go that far, how will that be controlled?

The cost?

But what about the cost?  So many pumping stations and pipelines in addition to the canals, it's going to be in billions.

But to me the biggest problems will be the ever-growing number of cill failures and breaches that will require the water to be pumped around, and quickly.