Thames Water imposes hosepipe ban on 15 million customers

17 August 2022, 07:45 | Updated: 17 August 2022, 08:26

Thames Water will introduce a hosepipe ban from August 24 as England's drought problems show no sign of relenting.

The firm has 15 million customers and covers areas including London and the Thames Valley.

Its ban prevents customers from using hosepipes to clean cars, water gardens or allotments, fill paddling pools or clean windows. Businesses are not affected but they have been asked to manage their water use appropriately.

Thames Water said that last month was the driest July since 1885, amid record-breaking temperatures, and the Thames had reached its lowest level since 2005, causing a drop in reservoir levels.

The hosepipe ban should allow it to save a further 10% of water supplies.

Demand has been at its highest for more than 25 years and, during the hottest days, in some parts it grew by 50% compared to the usual levels seen at that time of year.

Sarah Bentley, Thames Water's CEO, said: "Implementing a Temporary Use Ban for our customers has been a very difficult decision to make and one which we have not taken lightly.

"After months of below average rainfall and the recent extreme temperatures in July and August, water resources in our region are depleted.

Read more: Water could be rationed as drought declared across parts of England and tankers arrive in first villages

"Despite investing in the largest leakage reduction programme in the UK, customer demand is at unprecedented levels and we now have to move into the next phase of our drought plan to conserve water, mitigate further risk and futureproof supplies.

"I'd like to thank all of our customers for the efforts they have already made to conserve water as a result of the media campaign we have been running since May.

"Reducing demand means reducing the amount of water we have to take from the environment at a time when it is under pressure. I would also like to apologise to our customers who have been affected by recent incidents, our dedicated colleagues are working around the clock to manage this challenging situation."

Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Sussex, Pembrokeshire, Cornwall, north Devon and Yorkshire have already had hosepipe bans announced for their areas.

Parts of South West, Southern and Central England and the East of England were put under drought status last week. Yorkshire joined them on Tuesday.

Thames Water said in a statement that, on top of the low reservoir and river levels, groundwater levels are below normal throughout its region – amounts that would be expected just once a decade.

Reservoir storage levels in London and Farmoor, Oxfordshire, have "reduced significantly" at levels not seen for about three decades, and it is using 120 million litres of groundwater from the North London Aquifer Recharge System.