Thames Water stops short of hosepipe ban but urges customers to ‘use water wisely’
The UK’s largest water provider has stopped short of announcing a hosepipe ban, but has not ruled out bringing in the measure if the latest drought continues.
Thames Water has urged its 15m customers to conserve supplies, with the country engulfed in another heatwave following the driest July since 1935.
While other firms such as Southern Water, South East Water and Welsh Water have announced bans, Thames Water has instead called on people to “use water wisely.”
It has suggested customers consider water-saving measures like shorter showers, fixing leaky bathroom facilities, and using a watering can rather than a hose for gardening.
Over the last three months, its catchment area received only 65 per cent of expected rainfall, with similarly low levels of rainfall over the preceding winter and spring period.
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We know the water we have stored in our reservoirs will continue to reduce, so if we do not receive around or above average rainfall in the coming months this will increase pressure on our resources and may indeed result in the need for more water saving measures including restrictions.”
The company revealed it had a statutory drought plan in place to cope with falling reservoir levels, which outlines what the firm does to inform customers about a drought and the restrictions it would potentially place on households and businesses.
It implemented the first stage of the plan in May, and highlighted that the next stage would include introducing temporary bans on hosepipes.
The spokesperson added: “The timing will depend on the amount of water used by our customers, which determines the speed at which reservoir storage declines, and the amount of flow in the rivers, which determines how much water we can take to refill them. “
Recently, Thames Water has started drawing water from our North London Aquifer Recharge System which means the firm needs to take less water from its reservoirs.