Southern Water hosepipe ban starts on 10 July for about one million customers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, after the River Test fell to a critically low level. The company is asking households to put down their hosepipes now and use buckets or watering cans instead.
The restriction is likely to stay in place until the autumn unless there is significant and sustained rainfall. Nearly one million of those customers rely on the River Test for drinking water, so the company is tightening use before the network comes under more pressure.
Tania Flasck on River Test levels
Tania Flasck, Southern Water's director of water operations, said the company saw the river drop much faster than its models had predicted. “In June, we've actually seen a third of the flow and so the models have just not necessarily predicted that,” she said.
She added: “When we've actually measured the levels we've seen it's dropped down a lot, a lot further and faster than we've anticipated.” The sharp fall came after the warmest spring on record and last week's record-breaking heatwave.
Southern Water and the Test
This is the first time Southern Water has introduced a temporary use restriction in consecutive years. Last year, it imposed a hosepipe ban from mid-July until the end of October. The company also said it has achieved a record year of leakage reduction, equating to 27 million litres per day, and has found and fixed 2,840 leaks since January.
Southern Water said future investment, including the UK's first new reservoir for 30 years, is intended to stop it taking water from the Test and Itchen rivers by 2040. The company says that is part of the longer-term answer, but the current restriction still begins now because the river is already under strain.
Paul Vignaux on shrinking river flow
Paul Vignaux, executive director of the Test and Itchen Association, said there are no reservoirs there and all the water comes from the river or from the aquifer. “And effectively, if you take water from our rivers and aquifers, you're taking water from nature,” he said.
He said: “When the flow gets slow the temperature rises and pollution gets concentrated.” He also said fish are finding it difficult to move up and down the rivers and are hiding in ever shrinking bits of river where they can keep their temperature down. For households, the immediate next step is simple: stop using hosepipes before the ban starts on 10 July, and switch to buckets or watering cans for gardens, paddling pools and cars.
