HOSEPIPE BANS affecting 20 million households in southern and eastern England have come into force, with fears that restrictions may have to be toughened in coming months because of severe shortages.
In some districts – Shropshire, the Chilterns and the North Downs – groundwater levels, which are already lower than they were before the 1976 summer drought, continue to fall, the UK Environment Agency warned yesterday.
Thames Water, Southern, South East, Anglian, Sutton and East Surrey, Veolia Central and Veolia South East all introduced bans on hosepipes from midnight Wednesday, with little expectation they will be lifted until later this year.
Hardware stores have already removed hosepipes from sale, though demand for water butts is at an all-time high, according to shops in London. Offenders found using hosepipes to water gardens or fill pools will be fined £1,000.
A desalination plant in east London which has been treating water taken from the Thames Estuary is out of commission but it will be back in operation shortly, the company said yesterday.
The hosepipe ban could save 150 million litres of water a day in London alone, said Thames executive Richard Aylard – a saving that would cost £1.2 billion and take 10 years if it was to be matched by cuts in leaks from the company’s own often Victorian-era pipe system.
In all, water companies in England and Wales lose 3.4 billion litres of water a day because of leaks, though the figure is down by 35 per cent on the mid-1990s after a multi-billion pound investment by the companies. An end to all leaks would save enough water to supply 22.4 million people every day.
In Derbyshire, the environment agency has had to move fish left stranded in nearly dried-out stretches of the River Lathkill downstream, while British Waterways has restricted lock-opening times on some of its canals.
One reservoir in Kent, Bewl Water, is below half of its capacity even before the summer begins, while water companies warn that heavy rains now would not do enough to restore supplies to groundwater aquifers.
Each person in Britain uses 150 litres per day, compared with 125 litres each in Germany, 110 litres in France and 100 in Denmark. The British government has set a target of cutting consumption to 130 litres.
“Greater pressure on water resources, due to a growing population, increasing per-person usage and changing weather patterns, means that even without a drought, the situation is unsustainable,” said environmental organisation Waterwise.
Severn Trent Water loses 27 per cent of its supplies daily through leaks, United Utilities loses 26 per cent. Thames Water loses 26 per cent, though it has cut its leakage rate by a quarter since 2005, says water regulator Ofwat. Acknowledging the difficulties facing the companies, Ofwat says that “eliminating leakage entirely would not be practical or sustainable” since pipe repairs or replacement cause traffic delays and other costs.
Waterwise managing director Jacob Tompkins said rainfall in the south and east of England had been below average for 18 of the last 23 months.
Some exemptions to the ban exist, particularly for the disabled. Sports stadiums, including those to be used for the Olympics, are unaffected. Car washes have not been ordered to close in the affected areas – for now.
