Seven million customers in the North West of England will face a hosepipe ban from 5 August as water supplier United Utilities (UU) faces depleted reservoirs, amid the longest heat wave since 1976.
The ban restricts the use of hosepipes and sprinklers for watering gardens, washing windows and cars, and filling in ponds and pools, except for animal welfare purposes. Watering gardens with water cans and washing vehicles with a bucket and sponge, which use a fraction of the water of hosepipes, are permitted.
UU has the power to levy fines of £1,000 on residents who breach the ban. Businesses are exempt but controversially, allotment owners, growing food for their own consumption, are not.
Martin Padley, from UU, said: “Despite some recent rainfall, reservoir levels are still lower than we would expect at this time of year and, with forecasters predicting a return to hot dry weather for the rest of July, we will need to impose some temporary restrictions on customers.
“Unless we get a period of sustained rainfall before 5 August these restrictions will help us safeguard essential water supplies for longer.”
Met Office data shows the North West and northern Wales recently experienced their driest June since 1976. No rain is forecast for the region in the next week and hot, dry weather is anticipated to last until August.
The North West is more reliant than other regions on open sources of water including reservoirs, rather than ground water, making water supplies in the area particularly susceptible to drought. UU figures show reservoir levels in the area are 17% lower than over this period last year.
United Utilities said the hosepipe ban is running alongside its other efforts to safeguard essential supplies, including abstracting water from ground water supplies, moving supplies around its regional integrated network of pipes, and a campaign to urge customers to use water wisely.
They said a hosepipe consumes 540 litres per hour, as much as a family of four would use in one day, and a sprinkler left running overnight can use as much water as that family would in an entire week.
According to UK Water Industry Research, a hosepipe ban can lower water use by 5-10%, the equivalent of 100 million litres a day in the North West.
However, statistics from water industry regulator Ofwat indicate that greatest water savings could be found elsewhere: by repairing leaking pipes. Privatised water firms in England typically lose between 20 and 22% of supply to leakage.
Industry data shows that United Utilities is second only to Thames Water in the amount of water lost en route to consumers’ faucets: 133 litres per day per property, well above the industry average of 121 litres. The amount of water lost per property is almost identical to average daily use per household in the region, which stands at 132 litres.
Although UU’s ban in the North West is the first in England since 2012, in Northern Ireland a hosepipe ban has been in effect since 29 June in response to a sustained period of dry, hot weather.
Other water suppliers in England confirmed that they have no plans to introduce hosepipe bans but will continue to encourage customers to use water wisely.
