‘Use less water or face ban on hosepipes’
AHOSEPIPE ban could come into force unless people stop using so much water, United Utilities has warned.
Despite the ongoing heatwave and moorland fires, water bosses say reservoir levels are normal for the time of year.
But the company, which owns a collection of reservoirs across Greater Manchester and the north west, said the main concern was the ‘level of demand’ linked to the hot weather.
They have reported a ‘massive increase’ in consumption, as sprinklers are used to water gardens and hoses to fill children’s paddling pools.
Use has exploded to an additional half a billion litres a day, United Utilities said, which is 25 per cent more than usual and according to a spokesman, the largest increase recorded by the company in recent memory.
A spokesman told the Observer: “We’re managing resources carefully but we have asked for people’s help and support to avoid having to put restrictions in place. Collectively, if our customers in the north west make a few changes to their water consumption, this could be the extra push we need to avoid official restrictions.”
Warning text messages to customers across the region have already been sent out.
They read: “We urgently need your help and support to avoid a hosepipe ban. The demand is so high, particularly during peak times, that we are struggling to get enough water around the system quick enough. If we can all do our bit this will reduce the risk of lower water pressure or no pressure at all.”
New images of Holden Wood Reservoir, near Haslingden on Greater Manchester’s border with Lancashire, reveal the current water level there.
And last month one of the main reservoirs that supplies Manchester’s water, Thirlmere Reservoir in Keswick, Cumbria, was pictured looking dried up and cracked.
But water bosses have urged the public not to panic, over water levels at least. It’s the sheer volume of taps being turned on that is causing the problem.
The spokesman said: “At the moment our reservoirs are averaging about 75 per cent full, meaning that overall the region’s water sources are relatively healthy.
“The main challenge for us at the moment is not the amount of water we have collected, but the level of demand linked to the hot weather.”
Water levels for the region are at 75.1 per cent, representing a week-onweek fall, against 86.2 per cent this time last year.
United Utilities said it has also increased its leak response, with 30 per cent more leak repair teams now operating throughout the region.
A nationwide ban on hosepipes in Ireland meanwhile will come into effect tomorrow, with anyone found breaching the ban facing a fine.