Thames Water announces hosepipe ban for 10.1 million

Thames Water has announced a hosepipe ban affecting 10.1 million customers after an "exceptionally warm and dry spring".

The restrictions mean, from Thursday, hosepipes should not be used for watering gardens or allotments, cleaning cars, filling paddling pools or swimming pools, or cleaning windows.

The water company said its region had seen 40% of average rainfall, and more days at or above 34C this year than ever recorded before.

Nevil Muncaster, director of strategic water resources, said: "We would not be taking this step unless it was necessary to protect water supplies for everyone and the environment."

The ban applies to all customers that Thames Water supplies with drinking water and comes into effect on Thursday.

The company provides water to customers across parts of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Surrey, the Thames Valley, Greater London, and the surrounding areas.

It provides water and wastewater services to 16 million customers overall.

It said water use was currently 10% above normal in the Thames Valley and Home Counties and 7% above normal in London, which amounted to an extra 100 million litres of water every day.

Muncaster added: "Recent heatwaves and a very dry spring and summer have led to sustained high demand.

"While there is enough water for essential use, we need to reduce non-essential outdoor demand to keep taps flowing."

He said teams were "working 24/7 to keep water moving, fix leaks and support customers" and that the situation would be kept "under close review", with restrictions lifted when safe to do so.

The company said this year's hot weather had meant during peak periods "water has been used faster than it can be treated and moved through parts of the network, placing additional pressure on local supplies".

"Customers should continue to use water for essential needs such as drinking, cooking, washing and hygiene," it said.

"Buckets and watering cans can still be used, and there are exemptions, including where water use is necessary for health and safety reasons or for customers with severe mobility problems."

Thames Water is about £20bn in debt.

The government recently rejected a rescue proposal, and the BBC understands the company's main lenders are preparing a legal challenge in case the new Andy Burnham-led government takes the firm into public hands.

Hosepipes and pressure washers should not be used to:

• water gardens, lawns, or allotments (this includes the use of sprinklers)
• fill paddling pools, swimming pools, or hot tubs
• clean vehicles, patios, paths, driveways, walls, windows, or any outdoor areas

Plants and gardens can be watered with a watering can, and cars can be washed using a bucket

Some exemptions may include:

• Wastewater only customers
• Health and safety needs
• Animal welfare, including pets, livestock, and fish
• Watering food crops and certain newly planted trees
• Customers who cannot reasonably adjust their water use because of a disability or medical condition

Source: Thames Water

Elsewhere, South East Water has announced that a hosepipe ban currently in force in Kent will be extended to parts of Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire from Saturday.

Other companies with bans in force include Southern Water, which affects about one million customers across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and South West Water, covering Mid Devon and other parts of the county, and Lyme Regis in Dorset.

A ban affecting 33,000 properties in west Wales was introduced last weekend by Welsh Water.

Cambridge Water, Anglian Water and Affinity Water, which all supply to much of the East of England, have implemented "temporary use bans".

The UK's summer has seen a number of records broken - including some which date back to the notorious summer of 1976 in which a drought was declared and a minister appointed to deal with water problems.

A lack of rain has also been a big part of this summer with some places in southern England seeing no measurable rain for more than four weeks.

Correction: The earlier figure in this story has been amended to 10 million because only Thames Water's water supply customers, and not waste water customers, are affected.