Hosepipe ban begins amid drought fears
THE first hosepipe ban in England has been announced as residents of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have been given six days to prepare for drought.
The measure, officially called a “temporary use ban” (Tub), affects customers of Southern Water and will come into force on August 5.
Using hosepipes to water gardens or clean cars will not be allowed and ornamental ponds and swimming pools must not be filled, though there are exceptions for commercial businesses.
It is the first hosepipe ban to be enforced in the region since 2012. The measure will stay in place until enough rain has fallen to return river flows to normal levels, the company said.
Southern Water said the region was experiencing one of the driest years since records began 131 years ago, and restrictions were needed to protect local rivers the Test and the Itchen.
Most of England is experiencing “prolonged dry weather”, the stage before an official drought, the Environment Agency said this week. A hosepipe ban affecting the Isle of Man came into force today, the first since 2020. High demand during the record-breaking heatwave earlier this month, a dry winter and spring and rainfall very far below average for July have all exacerbated the water shortage.
The company said that an hour’s worth of hosepipe use is equivalent to more water than each person on average uses in a week in the region.
Dr Alison Hoyle, director of risk and compliance at Southern Water, said: “We haven’t taken this decision lightly and we know the [ban] will have an impact on our customers.
“We’re experiencing one of the driest years on record for over a century and we’ve seen record temperatures.
“River flows are approximately 25 per cent lower than they should be for July, which is equivalent to losing more than 25 million bathtubs of water. We’re asking our customers to help protect our rivers and the habitats that live there by cutting back their water use.”
Earlier this week Anglian Water said it did not plan to implement a hosepipe ban, saying its resources were “in reasonable shape”.
A hosepipe ban is coming in for Southern Water customers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. No doubt it will spread. Of course, Telegraph readers hate waste and are resourceful in trying times. One wrote to us yesterday saying that he had never used a hosepipe to clean his car in 63 years, needing only a bucket of water, and in this dry spell would make do with half a bucket. Or bathwater might save treasured azaleas. But there is a nagging thought, as the garden wilts, that water companies are paid to do something simple: save up water that falls from God’s heaven and pipe it to customers. It doesn’t have to come all the way from Russia and it doesn’t break down into carbon dioxide when consumed. Only determined fecklessness turns this other Eden from a green and pleasant land into a tawny tinderbox.