From today, August 24, all Thames Water customers are prohibited from using a hosepipe or face a fine of up to £1000. The ban applies to hosepipes and anything attached to them like sprinklers and jet washers. However, allotment owners may still use a hosepipe to water food being grown in an allotment, where essential.
Other exemptions include watering new trees, grass and plants for the first 28 days from planting and watering sports pitches to maintain their commercial viability.
Thames Water say, “After the driest July on record, and below average rainfall in 10 of the last 12 months, water levels in our rivers and reservoirs are much lower than usual. We have more teams reducing leakage than ever before, working 24/7 to find and fix more than 1,100 leaks every week. The recent heatwaves mean that demand for water is also at record levels.
We’ve been working around the clock to supply everyone, and customers have been brilliant at saving water where they can. But, with low rainfall forecast for the coming months, we’ve had to take the next step in our drought plan. Everything we do now will help protect supplies next summer and help the environment.
We know it’s not acceptable to lose precious water through leaks, and we’re fixing as many as we can. We have:
- 160 repair teams working 24/7 to fix over 1,100 leaks a week
- 280 engineers working around the clock to find the 95% of leaks that can’t be seen
- sped up our investment in replacing pipes on our 20,000 mile network
If you see one, it’s very important to report a leak.”
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust’s Bay Meadows Project is underway – more volunteers welcome
