JOHN GUMMER was in gushing, shirt-sleeved form on TV last weekend. Standing in front of a shrivelling reservoir, he told us to stop worrying about the drought and start enjoying "some of the best holiday weather for years" And why not? No one has empty taps yet There are no standpipes in the street. Thames Water thought about fitting free low-flush lavatories in 1980 It was cost-effective, but never adopted Nobody in the company can now remember why not.. During the recent drought, water companies cut use by fitting low-flush lavatory cisterns, sprinkler taps and low-flow shower heads free of charge. This being Los Angeles, the municipal water authority will pay for bottled water if supplies are cut off.California offers another example of good water-conservation practice.

For example, in Los Angeles, which has been used as the base for the Californian examples and which is recovering from a bad drought, consumers are allocated a set amount of water If they exceed this, higher rates kick in. Singapore has reduced its leaks to 8 per cent with stainless steel mains.As our table shows, there is little agreement about the best way to manage water: public, private and mixed systems are all in place, including, in France, public authorities sub-contracting to private companies.Caution should be applied to some of the comparisons; the UK profit figure is the amount not retained within the companies; the Spanish salary is for the minister of public works; the UK salary does not include share options; prices are on slightly varied bases, and there are differing local supplements and penalties. The knee-length, A-line, Crimplene skirts and sensible haircuts have - with a few stubborn and hellish exceptions - surrendered to trendy, and even sexy, gear, and an abundance of dreadlocks, but it's not yet hip to be young and with Jesus."It's still like you've got two heads," said Angela Entwisle, 18, from Lewes, Sussex, to vigorous nods from her friends.It is three years since Mr Brain and his cutting-edge Nine O'Clock Service - pioneer and darling of the alternative worship movement - last made an appearance at the annual Greenbelt Festival near Corby. Then NOS's bikini-clad girls, dancing against a backdrop of pagan video images and the words "Eat God, swallow God" caused a major controversy.Last week Mr Brain, who attracted hundreds of youngsters to weekly dance services in the basement of a Sheffield sports centre, was stripped of his Church of England office and scores of women from his group are in counselling, alleging he sexually abused them during healing sessions.Just exactly how the Brain scandal has affected the lot of the young God Squad and the future of alternative worship dominated conversation at the festival.Comments from the Church of England's old guard have stung members of Holy Disorder, an alternative worship group from Gloucester linked by the media this week with NOS. Joe, 14, one of Disorder's 50-strong contingent, said sadly: "There are people in the Church who would like to shut down anything that is different.""Even the Guardian linked us with NOS this week," said helper Chris Jones. Holy Disorder insists its links are with its local diocese and that members worship through a wholesome but contemporary combination of music, drama and prayer.

Its preoccupation is with the effect the scandal will have on parents, many of whom are less than delighted when their offspring find God.Those who do use the raves and Nineties dance scene for worship turn shy about talking on the record, but anonymity made them blunt. Their enemies, they say, are making a meal of exceptional circumstances."Traditionalists ought to be ashamed," said one teenage boy. "They seem to be saying this is what happens when you let them start changing the words and music to the old hymns - you end up with a sex cult in Sheffield. It's absolutely ludicrous."The Late, Late Service in Glasgow is brave enough to admit it was inspired by NOS and admired its work. It released a short statement confirming its commitment to innovative use of media, but emphasised its links with local churches and its democratic structure and accountability.It found an ally in Garth Hewitt, Greenbelt organiser, who lampooned those who see Sheffield as the inevitable conclusion of freedom in the Church.

When Catholic priests get into trouble for doing naughty things, he said, it does not lead to calls for the abolition of the Mass.Dave Tomlinson, founder of Holy Joe's, a Christian group that meets in a south London pub, agrees alternative worship survived a scandal. But he thinks the scandal offers crucial lessons about the relationship between experimental groups and the established church.He first met Mr Brain 12 years ago when he was the manager of a rock band. He remembers NOS at Greenbelt in the late Eighties and the notorious appearance in 1992. "I think they were doing something intended to be worshipful," he said. "But it was too performance-orientated and pretentious."By then, he says, the group was guilty of "arrogant insularity" "They told Greenbelt they were coming on their terms only. In the press conference later I remember Chris Brain refusing to answer questions There was a cult-figure feeling even then.