Overview
- Thames Water and other major suppliers have imposed temporary hosepipe bans covering roughly 27 million people, with Thames Water’s measure affecting about 10.1 million customers.
- Company officials warned the bans may stay in place for several months and said Thames Water expects the restrictions to be lifted realistically toward the end of the year.
- Firms say short spells of heavy rain in August gave only local relief and that weeks of sustained above-average rainfall are needed to raise river, reservoir and groundwater levels to safe levels.
- Operational pressure has grown because household demand rose sharply during repeated heatwaves and networks continue to lose large volumes to leaks while teams repair pipes and move water between systems.
- The bans prohibit non-essential outdoor water use such as watering gardens, filling pools and washing cars and are enforceable with fines up to £1,000 as companies manage supplies to protect ecosystems and meet abstraction limits.