Environment Secretary urges water companies to introduce hosepipe bans

Southern Water, South East Water and Welsh Water have already announced hosepipe bans, as water supplies have dwindled following the UK’s driest eight-month period since 1976.

The Minister said those firms have “rightly” taken action to mitigate the effects but others need to follow suit, as forecasters have told most of the UK to prepare for another week of clear skies and warm weather.

Yorkshire Water has not introduced any restrictions yet, but said they may be required in the coming weeks if the dry weather continues.

This week, the company said reservoir levels had fallen to 51 per cent, despite a recent spell of rain, and customers need to ensure they are not wasting water.

It comes after The Environment Agency warned the country could be in drought this month if the dry conditions continue.

Mr Eustice wrote in The Telegraph: “I strongly urge other water companies to take responsible action to protect and preserve our water supplies during this exceptionally dry period.”

It comes after environmental groups criticised water companies for taking too long to act.

Water companies can apply for Temporary Use Bans, to prevent people from using hosepipes to water gardens, wash cars or fill pool, or Drought Orders, which prohibit “non-essential use” of water.

Anyone who is caught breaking the ban, can be prosecuted and fined up to £1,000.

Mr Eustice said households should ensure they are not wasting water, but added: “This should never solely be about individual consumer action.”

The Minister has also urged companies to do more to reduce leaks and said the Government will finalise plans to make it easier to gain planning permission for new reservoirs by the end of this year.

The Environment Agency said water companies lost 2.3bn litres per day to leaks between April 2020 to March 2021, up from 2.2bn in the previous year.

According to Yorkshire Water’s annual report, the company lost 283.1m litres of water per day to leaks in 2021/22 but it has introduced a range of schemes to prevent leaks.

Last month saw a record-breaking heatwave, with temperatures exceeding 40C in the UK for the first time, and the driest July in records dating back to 1836 for south east and central southern England.

For England as a whole, last month was the driest since 1935, Met Office figures show.

Met Office Senior Meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said the weather “will be dry for much of the country” over the next seven to 10 days and temperatures are expected to exceed 30°C in parts of the south.

He added: “Overall Augusts tend to be a wetter month so it is fairly unusual to have prolonged dry weather over August.”

Tory leadership contender Rishi Sunak has said he wants to look at introducing compensation if a hosepipe ban is a direct consequence of water companies’ failures. His rival Liz Truss said such bans should not have to happen and “more needs to be done to make sure water companies fix leaks and waste”.