‘Wash hair less often to avoid hosepipe ban’
Water-saving tips follow emergency meeting amid fears of drought hitting most of the country
People should not wash their hair every day and let their lawns go brown to avoid widespread hosepipe bans, the Government has recommended as drought looms over England. Meteorologists said an official drought was soon likely to be announced in the driest areas of the country, as the Met Office forecasts little to no rain in the weeks ahead, particularly in the South and East. Most of England is already in prolonged dry weather status, the stage before a drought.
THE public should not wash their hair every day and let their lawns go brown to avoid widespread hosepipe bans, the Government has recommended as drought looms for England.
Meteorologists said an official drought was on course to be announced in the driest areas of the country, as the Met Office forecasts little to no rain in the weeks ahead, particularly in the south and east of the country.
Most of England is already in prolonged dry weather status, the stage before a drought.
England had the driest first six months of the year since 1976, and has had just 20 per cent of its average rainfall for July.
Representatives from the Government, water industry, farmers and river campaign groups held an emergency meeting yesterday to discuss measures to mitigate the worst impacts before a possible drought alert next month.
After the meeting, the Government called on individuals to cut down on their water consumption as a precaution against shortages.
Advice from the water industry, backed by the Government, includes letting your lawn go brown and using dry shampoo instead of washing your hair.
Other advice includes being proud to have a dirty car, taking shorter showers and using the same mug to drink from all day without washing it.
Harvey Bradshaw, a representative from the Environment Agency, who chaired the drought meeting, said: “While last week’s extreme high temperatures are now behind us and there are currently no plans for restrictions on essential water use, we can all do our bit by reducing unnecessary water consumption and following advice from our water company to ensure this remains the case while our rivers are exceptionally low.”
The Isle of Man said it would be bringing in a hosepipe ban from Friday after an extremely dry period and an increase in usage over recent weeks, despite a campaign to encourage residents to “use water wisely”.
Liz Bentley, the chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, said yesterday that forecasts of dry weather in the next few weeks suggested a drought alert was “very likely”, at least in southern England.
“Water supply in the streams, rivers and reservoirs is now becoming very low,” she told the BBC. “And obviously, that becomes quite critical and action needs to be taken.”
The East and the South East had just 4 per cent of average rainfall for the month by July 19, according to Environment Agency data.
River flows are exceptionally low, groundwater levels are below normal and reservoir reserves have fallen across much of the country.
Hot, dry conditions have forced farmers to irrigate their crops, putting fur
‘Looking at reservoir levels and for many of our rivers, the drought is already here, and it’s already real’
ther pressures on resources, and left fish populations struggling to survive. The Environment Agency has been reoxygenating water and rescuing fish in distress where river flows are especially low.
Southern Water has already applied for a drought order from the Environment Agency, which will empower it to bring in a hosepipe ban for its 2.5 million customers.
Several other water companies are understood to be preparing to apply for similar drought orders.
Thames Water has said that a hosepipe ban is likely to be needed for its seven million customers unless the next few months bring increased rainfall. In Yorkshire, the Environment Agency has applied for a drought order for the Holme Styes reservoir in Holmfirth after months of low rainfall, to protect wildlife.
“Ongoing warm weather in much of the country follows the driest winter and spring since the 1970s,” said Stuart Colville, director of policy at Water UK, which represents the industry.
“As we continue to see extremely high demand, we are urging everyone to carefully consider the amount they are using given the unprecedented conditions.”
But the industry has come under fire for asking customers to cut their usage while failing to curb leakages in their systems, resulting in the loss of 2.34 billion litres of water a day, enough to fill more than 900 Olympic swimming pools. “Water companies should be helping their customers to understand why and how to reduce their water use, as well as showing their own commitment by doing everything they can to reduce leakage,” said Karen Gibbs of the Consumer Council for Water.
Stuart Singleton-white, from the Angling Trust, warned that many indicators suggested that there was already drought conditions in some areas.
“Looking at reservoir levels and for many of our rivers, the drought is already here, and it’s already real,” he said. Climate change will mean the recent hot, dry conditions become more frequent, leading to calls for longterm adaptation to avoid repeated drought emergencies.
Mr Singleton-white said the Government was failing to address the underlying issues affecting water resources in the UK.
He called for the Government to back year-round campaigns calling on households to trim their water usage. “What we are seeing this year is likely to become a reasonably regular occurrence,” he said.