Thames Water will impose hosepipe ban on 15 million customers across London and South East

Thames Water has announced a hosepipe ban for 15 million customers from next week.

The ban is set to come into effect from August 24 in the wake of what Thames Water called ‘unprecedented conditions’ and the driest July in 135 years.

It comes despite Thames Water admitting they lose more than 635 million litres of water a day through leaks and inefficient water usage.

As drought was officially confirmed across several regions of the UK last week, including Kent and South London, water companies are increasingly coming under fire from angry customers for imposing hosepipe bans after repeatedly failing to fix leaks.

But Thames Water has insisted today that they have ‘more teams reducing leakage than ever before’, who they say are ‘working 24/7 to find and fix more than 1,100 leaks every week’.

A statement on the company’s website said: ‘We’ve been working around the clock to supply everyone, and customers have been brilliant at saving water where they can. But, with low rainfall forecast for the coming months, we now need to take the next step in our drought plan.

‘Everything we do now will help protect supplies next summer and help the environment.

‘We know these restrictions impact your day-to-day activities around your home and beyond, and we’re grateful for your support.’

The temporary use ban comes after reports of the River Thames reaching its lowest level since 2005 and ‘unprecedented weather conditions’.

The ban means customers cannot use any hosepipe including sprinklers, dripper hoses and automatic irrigation systems for watering the garden or plants; cleaning a car, walls, paths or patios; or filling a pool, pond or fountain.

However they can still do any of these activities if they use mains water from a bucket or watering can, or use water that is not sourced from the mains such as greywater or rainwater from a water butt through a hosepipe.

Meanwhile, another hosepipe ban was announced on Monday for Cornwall and parts of Devon, with South West Water will be bringing in the policy in just over a week’s time.

Four water companies – Manx Water, Welsh Water, Southern Water and South East Water – have already imposed bans, while Yorkshire Water said one will start on August 26. 

A drought was declared for parts of England last week following the driest summer for 50 years that has almost completely deprived some areas of rainfall. 

Sarah Bentley, Thames Water CEO said: ‘Implementing a Temporary Use Ban for our customers has been a very difficult decision to make and one which we have not taken lightly.

‘After months of below average rainfall and the recent extreme temperatures in July and August, water resources in our region are depleted.

‘Despite investing in the largest leakage reduction programme in the UK, customer demand is at unprecedented levels and we now have to move into the next phase of our drought plan to conserve water, mitigate further risk and futureproof supplies.

‘I’d like to thank all of our customers for the efforts they have already made to conserve water as a result of the media campaign we have been running since May. Reducing demand means reducing the amount of water we have to take from the environment at a time when it is under pressure.

‘I would also like to apologise to our customers who have been affected by recent incidents, our dedicated colleagues are working around the clock to manage this challenging situation.’

Last Friday, the very dry conditions prompted the National Drought Group to move parts of the South West, parts of southern and central England, and the East of England into official drought status. 

The most recent Environment Agency data showed rainfall totals for August have ranged from 12 per cent of the long-term average in north east England to 0 per cent in south east and south west England.

Meanwhile river flow data revealed almost 90 per cent of measuring sites were showing below normal readings, with 29 per cent labelled ‘exceptionally low’. The heat and dry conditions have also taken their toll on agriculture.

According to the National Farmers Union, crops such as sugar beet and maize are showing signs of stress from a lack of rain, while crops relying on irrigation, such as field vegetables and potatoes, are also facing problems.

It comes after thousands of households in well-heeled parts of Surrey were left without water at the weekend — a day after a drought was declared across more than half of England.

Frustrated families and elderly residents were left waiting in long queues, above, in the sweltering heat for bottled water in Cranleigh Village Way car park on Saturday morning.

Thames Water blamed the incident affecting Cranleigh and nearby Dorking on technical issues at a water treatment works and said its engineers were working to fix the problem. After the emergency water station ran out, supermarkets were stripped of bottled water.

The issue was one in a list of reasons why water companies are being increasingly criticised for leaks, hosepipe bans and pumping sewage into rivers.

Campaigners have complained that leaks across the mains network and a failure to address dwindling water reserves mean Britain is unprepared for drier periods.

Despite this, firms are lavishing bosses with huge pay packages with an investigation by The Mail on Sunday last month found that £50million was paid to chief executives of the dozen largest water firms in the last three years. 

The Lib Dems published an analysis last week which revealed Thames Water’s executives had received an ‘eyewatering’ £2.4million for 2021 as the party called for a ban on bonuses until the bosses fix their leaking infrastructure.

Ex-chief Steve Robertson and his replacement Sarah Bentley received a total of £3.4million.