Why some in Bucks, Beds & Herts will avoid a hosepipe ban

A quarter of the UK population are being warned restrictions will be imposed

Published 10th Aug 2022

With a number of water companies having already confirmed that hosepipe bans are in place, we found out whether people can expect similar restrictions in our region.

Customers of Anglian Water, serving parts of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, won't be affected as water levels supplying the area are stable for now.

Anglian Water say resevoirs and ground water levels are just below 80% for the region

However, customers of Thames Water in parts of Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire WILL BE AFFECTED....

The biggest water company in the UK, supplying 15 million people, announced they would look at bringing in the ban due to ongoing dry conditions.

A statement from the Thames Water said: ‘Given the long term forecast of dry weather and another forecast of very hot temperatures coming this week we are planning to announce a temporary use ban in the coming weeks.’

Familiar territory, for now

Regan Harris, from Anglian Water, tells us bans won't be imposed on their customers because they're used to the region being one of the driest in the UK:

We should still limit unnecessary water usage to help protect the environment and prevent bans in future, Anglian Water say

'We're resilient in the East of England, we've got a long history of dry summers, long dry spells, so one dry summer doesn't necessarily give us cause for concern because we're very good at conserving water, because we plan for it.'

Not a liberty

Despite there being no plans for bans, Anglian Water insist that we use the resource sparingly - to prevent from sending the situation out of control.

'We're really urging people to put the hosepipes away for the summer, embrace the brown lawn, it will bounce back, enjoy not having to cut it for a while. Or don't wash the car, let it be dirty - it doesn't really matter in the short time before the rain starts again.'

'One person's paddling pool is another person's drinking water, or it's water in our rivers for wildlife, so it's really important that we're thinking about the wider environment and to make use of the precious resources that we have.'

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