Wessex Water has announced a hosepipe ban after months of unprecedented dry weather, heatwaves and a continued lack of rain in the forecast, which has led to sustained high demand for water.
From midnight on Tuesday 18th August our customers must not use a hosepipe for activities such as watering gardens, washing cars, patios, paths and driveways, cleaning windows or filling swimming and paddling pools.
We have taken this decision after more than 40 days of demand for water remaining at record-breaking levels and the region formally declared as being in drought. We need to protect our water resources for both our customers and the environment. It is the first time we have introduced a ban since the famous drought of 1976.
The prolonged and extreme dry weather has meant demand across our region has consistently remained at more than 400 million litres per day, 30% above average for this time of year.
This isn’t a decision we’ve taken lightly and we’re sorry for the inconvenience it will cause to residents. We have worked hard to avoid these restrictions, and the decision comes after a 60% reduction in leakage in the past 30 years and a five-year £230 million investment in our water supply grid, which came into use in 2018. Repair teams have been fixing more leaks than ever this summer across the supply area, increasing repairs by more than a third in the last month alone.
While we’re not running out of water for essential use, our challenge has been moving water through the network quickly enough to meet these record levels of demand. This also has an impact on our underground storage reservoirs, which normally replenish with treated water quickly.
For information about the hosepipe ban please visit our website here.
Ruth Jefferson
Chief Executive, Wessex Water
Wootton Courtenay 
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