UK faces second hosepipe ban as drought, heatwave intensify
A second water company in the UK has announced a hosepipe ban as temperatures are forecast to rise to 32°C.
As the United Kingdom battles with the aftermath of its driest spring since 1893, with dry conditions expected to persist through the summer, millions more Britons have now been placed under a hosepipe ban, News.Az reports, citing the Independent.
The first ban, across Yorkshire, came into effect on Friday after a “drought” was declared in the region. Millions of residents have been barred from using hosepipes to water gardens, wash cars, fill hot tubs and paddling pools and clean outdoor surfaces. Anyone breaching the ban, which is legally enforceable, may be fined £1,000.
Northwest England has been in drought conditions since late May.
South East Water has since become the second company to introduce a hose pipe ban. It said 1.4 million of its customers in Kent and Sussex would have their use of hosepipes and sprinklers restricted.
In their announcement of the ban, they stated that demand for water across the two counties had reached “the highest levels” this year and had “now reached a point where they have exceeded the limits in the company’s drought plan”.
They said that on 30 June, they supplied 680 million litres of water, more than 100 million litres more than the daily average for summer. “On days like this, we’re pumping enough water to supply an additional 4 towns the size of Maidstone or Eastbourne,” they said.
South East Water also supplies parts of Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire, but it did not introduce bans for those regions, adding that it was continuing to monitor the situation there.
David Hinton, Chief Executive Officer of South East Water, said: “Providing the public water supply during this prolonged period of hot and dry weather continues to be challenging.
“Continued demand at this level presents a serious concern to ensure that we can protect the environment and keep everyone supplied. Despite asking for customers' help to use water for essential uses only, regrettably we’ve now been left with no choice but to introduce this temporary use ban restriction to protect customers supplies and the environment across Kent and Sussex.
“The temporary restrictions, announced today, will mean that customers will be prevented from using hosepipes for watering their gardens, washing cars, windows and patios, or filling swimming and paddling pools.”
It comes as forecasters said temperatures of more than 30C are expected to peak over the weekend, with a third heatwave this summer expected to be longer lived and extend further north and west into a larger part of the UK than previously this year.
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