Thames Water hosepipe ban comes into force for more than 1m customers
Thames Water has asked customers not to use hosepipes for things such as cleaning cars, watering plants, filling pools or cleaning windows.
The Temporary Usage Ban (TUB) is being imposed to preserve water after one of the driest Springs on record.
The company says only certain postcodes are affected due to low supplies of water at Farmoor Reservoir and local rivers.
The ban affects customers in the following postcodes:
The water company is asking people not to get in touch about neighbours using hosepipes, and says it will contact customers who repeatedly don't follow the rules.
Those breaking the rules could face a fine of up to £1,000.
A hosepipe ban is already in place for thousands of Southern Water and South East Water customers.
Thames Water has come under heavy criticism in recent years following burst pipes, leaks and increased water bills.
The compant says it is replacing 500km of water mains over the next five years to reduce leakage.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
Hosepipe bans: How are they enforced?
Millions of people in England are facing temporary hosepipe bans this summer, following the country's driest start to the year since bans - also known as Temporary Use Bans - are introduced by water companies during periods of high demand or low supply. Four companies have so far issued bans - Southern Water, Yorkshire Water, Thames Water and South East breaking the rules could be fined up to £1,000 - but how are the rules enforced? Caroline Loup, a garden landscaper who lives in Overton, Hampshire, where Southern Water's hosepipe ban has just begun, said people should be encouraged "to be nosy neighbours" to make sure the rules were being followed - but she wouldn't report someone."This ban isn't going to work unless everybody does their part," she said. "I'd probably go up to them and say, 'Have you heard about the ban?' I'd rather be up front than snoop on a neighbour."Ms Loup said action had to be taken by the water companies, including fining people who had broken the rules to deter others. "There needs to be some teeth behind the action." On the Isle of Wight, also supplied by Southern Water, gardener Tim Parry said he had received calls from "very emotional" clients who were worried about their gardens and the "intimidating" prospect of a said one client of his, a 90-year-old lady, asked him: "Do I have to walk a watering can up my garden? I don't think I can do that.""They don't want their neighbour looking out a window and thinking, 'She's out there with a hose'."He said he would be helping customers follow the rules because "our gardens aren't as important as the environment". Fines are a 'last resort' The BBC asked the four water companies whether they had ever issued fines for Yorkshire Water directly answered this, saying it had never issued a single fine and would prefer not to do so, instead asking customers to "respect" the company said it had received at least 100 reports of people who had continued to use hosepipes since the ban came into effect for more than five million households on 11 July. "If we are told repeatedly about someone breaking the restrictions, the first thing we do is remind them of their obligations - that is usually enough," a spokesperson said."However, if they continue to use a hosepipe, we may escalate our enforcement accordingly."The other three suppliers did not say if they had ever issued fines, but they all said enforcement would be the very final Water will first write to a customer who has been reported for using their hosepipe to remind them of the ban. The company said it might take enforcement action for "repeated or serious breaches". On its website, South East Water says prosecution is "very much a last resort" and "something no company wants to have to do".Police have told people not to contact them to report breaches of the ban, and instead to report them to their water company directly. But Thames Water has said customers do not need to report breaches at all, adding that it "may get in touch with customers who repeatedly don't follow the rules... just to make sure they're aware of the restrictions and how to use water responsibly".Trade body Water UK said it was not aware of anyone having ever been fined for using a hosepipe, though it did not hold data. But some people are exempt from the ban - those who are registered disabled, blue badge holders, and those who have paid a business to sow a lawn in the last 28 Meredith is a blue badge holder who lives in Oxford, where Thames Water's ban has now has mobility issues that restrict him from using a watering can - which is allowed during the ban - rather than a hosepipe to water his said the onus should not be on blue badge holders to make sure neighbours are aware they are allowed to continue using hosepipes if they decide to."I would not be uncomfortable using a hosepipe during a hosepipe ban," he said, adding that it would depend on what the weather was like or whether someone was around to help. Are warnings enough? Yorkshire Water said since the ban came into effect its customers' water usage dropped by about 26m gallons (100m litres) in just two days - without issuing a single fine and despite more than 100 reports of people flouting the rules. Dr Sianne Gordon-Wilson, who is currently looking into which factors can convince people to save water, said "peer influence" was the biggest driver."It's all about the friends and the social network," the assistant professor in marketing at Queen Mary University of London told the BBC."If they're saying it's something that you can do, it's not too much work, or it can be quite easy... then that is the most influential factor." Nicci Russell, chief executive of water-conservation charity Waterwise, said more had to be done to make the public aware of water scarcity. "We are running out of water right across the UK," she said. "There is nothing you can think of from the minute you wake up until the minute you go to bed that doesn't need water."She added that while her organisation did not advise people to report their neighbours, hosepipe bans did encourage the public to think about how they could save water. Additional reporting by Alys Davies and Michael Sheils McNamee
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Dismay at warnings against sea swimming in Kent
Residents and business owners have expressed their dismay at warnings not to swim in the sea at some beaches in east Kent after heavy Agency advice against bathing at Tankerton, Herne Bay, Deal Castle, Dymchurch and Littlestone remains in force, but was lifted at West Bay, Westgate-on-Sea, and Margate Fulsam Rock on Tuesday. The latest warnings come after "a discharge of storm waste water by Southern Water" which closed 14 beaches in Thanet on Saturday, according to Thanet District Council. Councillor Mike Garner, Mayor of Broadstairs, said "the uncertainty is not good for local business and the environment". He told BBC Radio Kent: "It can have a potentially serious impact because it puts day trippers off from visiting and the businesses can't rely on a regular flow of tourists."It makes it very difficult for them to run a business, especially those that are directly linked to the beach like the cafes and the surf school, which is on the beach."Alan Dolan runs West Bay Cafe and Finbar's Restaurant at West Bay, Westgate-on-Sea, which has had two different warnings against entering the sea since said: "It seems that every time the kids get their summer holidays the beaches here are closed."It's really hard running a business anyway but to have the continual uncertainty of whether it's safe to swim in the sea is crushing." Westgate resident June Wright said: "I'm not taking my dog along the beach as I don't want him going in the sea and getting ill from the pollution."Another resident, Judi Asbury, said: "We live in a lovely place and to not be able to go in the sea just isn't right."Sammy Jones said: "The water companies should cut back on shareholder dividends and repair our infrastructure first." Ian Derbyshire from Broadstairs swims in the sea every said: "The pollution warnings don't bother me."I haven't become ill from taking a dip."A Southern Water spokesperson said: "We share the public's desire for cleaner rivers and seas."We are investing heavily and working hard to enhance quality, including a £1.5bn clean rivers and sea plan designed to tackle storm overflow."
Daily Mail
13 hours ago
- Daily Mail
More than a million people hit with 'disgraceful' hosepipe ban despite three days of heavy rain and thunderstorms
England's fourth major hosepipe ban of summer came into force this morning as Thames Water activated restrictions for more than one million customers. Homes served by the firm in parts of Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Berkshire were hit by the ban following one of the driest springs on record. It comes despite three days of heavy rain and thunderstorms, which have not been enough to replenish reservoir and groundwater levels to the required levels. Postcodes beginning with OX, GL, SN, RG4, RG8 and RG9 now have restrictions - although London, which is also served by Thames Water, has avoided the ban. The Reading-based company has asked 1.1million customers not to use hosepipes, including for cleaning cars, watering plants, filling pools or cleaning windows. The ban follows Southern Water activating restrictions for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight yesterday. That followed other bans implemented by South East Water for parts of Kent and Sussex last Friday, and in the Yorkshire Water region since July 11. But Gary Carter from the GMB trade union criticised the new restrictions amid rising water bills, adding: 'Thames Water lost 200billion litres of water through leaks last year. That's 570million litres wasted every single day – the worst in the country. He claimed the union's workers at the company have 'had their hands tied behind their backs by crumbling infrastructure and non-existent investment', adding; 'For Thames Water to now impose a hosepipe ban while bills rocket is disgraceful.' Racegoers smile despite torrential rain at Royal Windsor Racecourse in Berkshire yesterday Heavily-indebted Thames Water has been battling to secure funding to shore up its creaking finances and stave off temporary nationalisation by the Government. Liz Stephens, professor of climate risks and resilience at the University of Reading, said of the restrictions: 'This hosepipe ban is coming into place a whole month earlier in the year than the most recent hosepipe ban in 2022. 'As a result the impact on individuals may be more profound, especially if we experience further heatwaves during the rest of the summer. 'The UK has been experiencing drier-than-average conditions since January, and while this low rainfall might not be as severe as in 1976, the increased population puts more demand on water resources.' Announcing the ban on July 14, Thames Water's strategic water resources director Nevil Muncaster said: 'This has been a challenging spring and summer with big spikes in customer demand during hot dry days and very little rainfall to replenish local supplies in the Thames Valley. 'Given the continued warm, dry weather we do not anticipate that the situation will improve any time soon so we have to take action now. 'Every drop of water we use comes from the environment and we have to balance protecting this while taking out the water needed to top-up reservoir levels. 'That is why we have had to make to the difficult decision to implement a hosepipe ban to make sure there's enough water for customers' essential needs and to protect rivers.' Thames Water is the latest company to activate a ban after the UK experienced its warmest spring on record and the driest in more than 50 years. It was the warmest June on record in England. The firm said it had seen daily demand for water in Swindon and Oxfordshire reach levels last seen during the 2022 drought. A statement said: 'Water abstracted from the River Thames for this area is stored at Farmoor reservoir in Oxfordshire. If as is expected, the warm, dry weather continues the company anticipates that reservoir levels at Farmoor will continue to drop. 'Further, river levels are below average for the time of year, which limits how much water can be sourced from the River Thames to top up the reservoir. 'In the Cotswolds, aquifers which feed the River Thames are fast draining and the prolonged low rainfall also limits how quickly they can be refilled, further restricting how much water the company can source for reservoir storage.' The Environment Agency placed the areas covered by Thames Water into the 'prolonged dry weather category' and the water company says its drought plan was designed to mitigate the risk of further impact on water supplies and ensure taps can keep running. Businesses which use water as a core part of their purpose, such as garden centres and car washes, are exempt. The ban comes as conditions remain unsettled today following three consecutive days of heavy rain, thunderstorms and flooding. The Environment Agency has 18 flood alerts in place for England today, while the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has 16 alerts and three warnings . Today will bring rain in western Scotland, where a yellow warning was in place this morning. A mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers will be seen elsewhere. Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: 'Tuesday is not looking as unsettled. The showers won't be quite as widespread or indeed as heavy as they have been. 'Nonetheless, there will be some showers or longer spells of rain for Scotland in particular, the west, (and) northwestern parts of England as well. 'But many parts of England and Wales (will be) actually getting away with a fairly reasonable day with some dry periods. 'And if the sunshine does break through that cloud at times, well, we might see temperatures reach 24C or 25C.'
