We have all heard it before. Take a shower instead of a bath ... do your bit for the environment and so on. But such minor lifestyle changes could be vital for the people of Kent.

Water authorities are warning that unless residents start using less water in the county we could face a water shortage in the next 25 years.

Ironically, it comes as another report reveals that more than a quarter of a million homes in the south east are planned in flood risk areas. The Countryside Alliance says it could become a time bomb of thousands of uninsurable homes.

Kent is one of the driest parts of the country but it is also facing population increases as masses of new housing is built.

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It could mean costly methods such as the creation of two huge reservoirs to meet demand for water - estimated to be for an extra 135 million litres every day by 2035.

South East Water, which supplies 565 million litres of drinking water each day to customers in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire, has put forward the reservoir proposals as part of a water resources management plan which goes out to consultation next month.

One at Broad Oak, near Canterbury, by 2024, could produce 27 million litres of water a day. The other, at Clay Hill, near Ringmer, East Sussex by 2017, producing 16.8 million litres a day to supply parts of West Kent.

A spokesman from South East Water said: “We use more water in the south east than in any other parts of the country.

“We are not facing shortages but there is the potential that we will be. If we keep increasing the water we use and the population keeps increasing then we will have to look at other water services.

“We are looking at building an extensive local water grid to supply those water deficit areas.”

Other proposals in its draft plan include developing four new underground water sources and building two strategic pipelines across Sussex and Kent.

Colin Harley, director of regulation for Southern Water, which supplies 552 million litres of drinking water each day to households in Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, said: “The Water Resources Management Plan is a draft strategy for dealing with the key challenges we foresee over the next 25 years so that we can deliver top class services to our customers efficiently.

“At this stage we are welcoming any comments from the public so that we can refine our strategy and publish our final Water Resources Management Plan in April 2009.”

To have your say on the companies' plans visit www.southeastwater.co.uk or www.southernwater.co.uk