Thames Water announces hosepipe ban impacting 15m across London and the South
Thames Water has announced a fresh hosepipe ban, impacting 15 million customers across London and the south of England.
The ban, which will restrict the way people water gardens, wash cars and windows, will come into effect from 24 August.
The temporary measure is as a result of “unprecedented weather conditions” and follows a number of other bans being brought in across England in recent weeks.
Thames Water chief Sarah Bentley 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.”
The move is the latest in in the water firm’s drought plan; the firm recently announced it will fix 1,100 leaks across its 20,000-mile network every week.
Work by the National Infrastructure Commission has suggested that the UK is likely to need 4 billion litres more water every day by 2050.
For Thames Water this would mean at least 1 billion litres more water every day, compared to the current average of 2.6 billion litres put into supply every day.