Three million people in southern England are currently preparing for a hosepipe restriction that will take effect in the coming days. Britons have already taken to social media to voice their complaints about neighbours filling up paddling pools and washing cars.
As Britain’s dry spell continues following a record-breaking July for lack of rain, South East Water today issued a hosepipe ban across Kent and Sussex starting next Friday. This ban will affect about 2.2 million customers. For residents of those counties, there will be a “temporary usage ban” that restricts the use of sprinklers or hosepipes.
The water company, which is the second to implement a hosepipe restriction this summer, reported that the demand for water this summer has surpassed all prior records. Last year, 88.7 million litres of water per day were lost due to leaky pipes.
A ban on almost a million people in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight starting this Friday was issued by Southern Water last week. That means ornamental ponds and private pools cannot be filled, nor can hosepipes be used to wash cars or water plants. A court fine of up to £1,000 and prosecution are possible consequences for violating the restriction.
And neighbours are already warning that when the restriction goes into effect, some households might have a surprise. One Twitter user said: ‘There’s a neighbour of mine who’s always washing his pride and joy outside on the driveway. He doesn’t know it yet but there’ll be a fine coming his way as soon as hosepipe ban is enforced.’
Before high temperatures return over the weekend, forecasters said the UK can anticipate cooler and “fresher” days for the remainder of this week, with temperatures in the low to mid 20s tomorrow and on Friday.
Today, the rain that fell yesterday in the northern portions of the Midlands and northern England is forecast to spread to the southern parts of same regions, as well as to central and southern England and East Anglia, but it is anticipated to become lighter.
Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said: ‘No real major signs of anything wet coming through for the South and generally the kind of warm theme is continuing for a lot of the country after a very brief cooler spell on Thursday and Friday.’
Discussing usage of water, one Twitter user said: ‘Neighbours bought a huge paddling pool for the kids and filled it up to the brim.’ And a third tweeted: ‘Saw another person washing their car yesterday, really, that’s necessary is it?’
A fourth added: ‘Luckily I live with amazing neighbours and after not grassing on them for not observing any lockdown rules in their back garden, I’m sure they won’t mention my use of the hosepipe to water my veggies.’
The Daily Mail yesterday obtained an internal South East Water briefing on the new ban’s plans, in which it was stated that other water firms may follow suit because they are “really thinking hard on their positions.”
As the hot, dry weather persists, the company has already requested that its customers voluntarily switch off their sprinkler and hosepipe systems.
South East Water said in an announcement today: ‘The use of a hosepipe or sprinkler will be restricted from Friday, August 12 for our customers in Kent and Sussex.
‘This has been a time of extreme weather conditions across the UK.
‘Official figures show this is the driest July on record since 1935 and the period between November 2021 and July 2022 has been the driest eight-month stint since 1976.
‘During July in the South East, we have only seen 8 percent of average rainfall for the month, and the long term forecast for August and September is for similar weather.
‘The demand for water this summer has broken all previous records, including the Covid lockdown heatwave.
‘We have been producing an additional 120 million litres of water a day to supply our customers, which is the equivalent of supplying a further four towns the size of Maidstone or Eastbourne, daily.
‘We have been left with no choice but to restrict the use of hosepipes and sprinklers from 0.01am on Friday, August 12 within our Kent and Sussex supply area until further notice.
‘We are taking this step to ensure we have enough water for both essential use and to protect the environment.
‘This will enable us to also reduce the amount of water we need to take from already stressed local water sources.’
Lee Dance, South East Water’s head of water resources, had also said last week: ‘Clearly, we are in a very dry and warm period and the forecast is that this may continue for a number of weeks.’
Mr Dance added: ‘We have been looking very closely at the current situation and assessing the likelihood of restrictions and other measures.
‘If our assessment reveals voluntary reduction of water use will not allow us to maintain supplies of water for essential use or to protect the environment, then we may need to impose more formal bans.’
The most prominent water company that has hinted it could also bring in a hosepipe ban this summer is Thames Water.
The firm said in a statement last week: ‘If we do not receive around or above average rainfall in the coming months, this will increase pressure on our resources and may, indeed, result in the need for more water saving measures including restrictions.’
This week, the Met Office said southern England had experienced its driest July since records began in 1836.
An average of only 5mm (0.2in) of rain fell in the South-East and Central Southern England last month, while only 5.4mm of rain fell in East Anglia (0.21ins).
With the exception of the North-West, the majority of England has entered a state of “prolonged dry weather.”
The Environment Agency has referred to this as “the first stage of a drought,” which raises the possibility of restrictions like hosepipe bans.
Last week, a hosepipe ban was also issued by the Isle of Man, and Welsh Water has indicated that a similar restriction may need to be implemented in Pembrokeshire.