Thames Water announces hosepipe ban for millions of people

Thames Water has announced a hosepipe ban after England’s warmest June on record.

The ban will begin next Tuesday for the water company’s customers in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, most of Wiltshire and parts of Berkshire.

No date has been given for the end of the ban.

People are being asked not to use hosepipes, including:

• Washing vehicles
• Watering gardens
• Filling swimming pools or paddling pools
• Cleaning windows or outdoor surfaces

Only businesses where hosepipe use is part of their purpose, such as car washes or garden centres, are exempt.

But Thames Water, which keeps taps running for 16million people, warned that more postcodes may be added to the ban as ‘every drop counts’.

Environmental officials have declared a state of ‘prolonged dry weather’ in large swathes of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Surrey.

Thames Water said: ‘That’s why we need to bring in a hosepipe ban. It will help protect the environment and make sure there’s enough water to go around this summer.’

This is the third hosepipe ban so far, following Yorkshire Water and South East Water, which came into effect last Friday.

South Staffordshire Water previously told Metro that water restrictions are being considered.

The UK has been slammed by three heatwaves barely halfway into the summer, leaving reservoir levels at their lowest levels for a decade.

In June, reservoirs across the country were 76% full, below their level in the severe drought year of 2022, when they were at 77% capacity.

With little rain to top up the reservoirs, officials worry that they will only continue to decrease over the summer.

To keep cool when the mercury hits above 25°C, Thames Valley customers have been using up to 30% more water.

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