Sandra Davis starts each hot morning in Haddenham, Cambridgeshire, by cooling her 16-year-old rescue dog Lili with a coat and a slow spray from the hose. Weather London matters here because Anglian Water, Affinity Water and Cambridge Water have put the East of England under temporary use bans after heatwaves and low rain pushed it near drought.
The East of England is facing a hosepipe ban for the first time in a decade. The restrictions are meant to protect customer supplies and the environment, while the Environment Agency says, “Dry weather depletes our water, and hot weather means we use more of it”.
Sandra Davis and Lili
Davis said, “Each morning, in this heat, I put her cooling coat on her and slowly sprinkle water on her from the hose”. She said, “I am using the method four or five times a day, as Lili's coat dries out”. Anglian Water allows hosepipe use for animal welfare, including pets, livestock and fish, so her routine falls within that exception.
But she also said, “Even if it wasn't allowed, I would probably do it anyway, to keep her body cool”. That leaves her with the same choice many residents now face: use less water where they can, but keep using it where the ban still allows for animal care.
Beach Babies nursery
At Beach Babies nursery in Landbeach, Cambridgeshire, children water the vegetable patch and orchard daily. Michelle Rodbourne said the nursery has “used this [hosepipe ban] as an opportunity to talk to the children about sustainability, and how there is little water”.
She said, “The hose pipe will obviously be removed, and the children will see that process happening”. The nursery plans to switch to small watering cans, taking water from water butts or taps inside the nursery, and Rodbourne said it will also have to fill paddling pools that way, which “might take much longer”.
Joan Sampson in Essex
Joan Sampson, who lives in Tolleshunt Darcy, Essex, said her barrels are running down. “We have a large, lovely garden. We have water barrels, but at the moment they're coming to empty”, she said.
She said, “We will just have to use a watering can and do what we can. Everything I have, it goes into a bowl and out into the garden.” For people across the East of England, that is the immediate adjustment now: saving hosepipe use for the narrow cases still allowed, and relying on cans, butts and indoor taps for everything else.
