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Hosepipe Ban Rules To Be Updated

Defra and the Government have today announced proposals for modernising the hosepipe ban, to update the 62 year old legislation surrounding it. These are just proposals – not law yet – and will now be open to consultation before going through Parliament. Modernisation of hosepipe ban rules was something we were crying out for over the last year on this website. Here’s the full press release from the government:

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Water Butts Selling Fast

B&Q, one of the country’s leading DIY retailers has reported that sales of water butts have more than tripled compared with this time last year. Ironically we see this at a time when all hosepipe and sprinkelr bans have been lifted and the country endures above average rainfall. But it seems people are keen not to get caught out if we have another warm summer.

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Hosepipe Ban News Latest News

Mid Kent Water Lifts Ban

Mid Kent Water has become the final water company to lift its hosepipe ban following months of above average rainfall and a rise in the region’s underground water levels. The underground aquifers are said to be crucial to Mid Kent Water as they get almost 90% of their water from them.

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Thames Water Improving With Leaks

Last year Thames Water managed to dodge a fine from Ofwat by being forced to spend an extra £150m on fixing leaks. It seems the company is doing well to meet the levels of leak fixing imposed by the water industry regulator.

In an obvious attempt to improve public relations, Thames have started a Regular leakage report section on their website which will be updated over time.

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Hosepipe Ban News Latest News

Mid Kent Water Keeps Hosepipe Ban

Due to underground water supplies still being to low, Mid Kent Water have announced their Hosepipe and Sprinkler ban will stay in place. The water company – which provides services to 580,000 customers in Kent – is the only one to retain a ban.

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South East Water Lift Hosepipe Ban

South East Water have announced that their hosepipe and sprinkler ban will be lifted from tomorrow (Wednesday 7th of February). The company stated that 4 months of above average rainfall has “significantly improved key underground sources” which account for three quarters of all their supplies.

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Water Meters – A Tax On The South?

The government have recently announced their U-turn on policy regarding water companies being able to impose water meters on their customers. It’s widely believed that water companies will be allowed to force compulsory water meters within 3 years on drought-hit areas of the South East.

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No Prosecutions By Thames Water

Despite sending warning letters to 4200 people during the 9 month hospeipe ban, Thames Water have admitted that nobody was prosecuted for flouting the restrictions. The maximum penalty is £1000 but as we discussed last year, no water company (that we know of) decided to take court action over naughty hosers.

Nicky Savage, spokesperson for Thames Water said:

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Thames Water Also Lift Water Restrictions

Following our report yesterday that three water companies had lifted their hosepipe bans, Thames Water have now stated that their ban is over too. A spokesperson from Thames Water said:

“The good news is that the recent wet weather has allowed us to fill our reservoirs. It has taken some time for the rain to seep down into underground aquifers that keep rivers and reservoirs topped up during the spring and the summer, but groundwater levels throughout the catchment area are also rising and are expected to have generally recovered to at least near normal levels by February. This all means that keeping the hosepipe ban in place is no longer justified. We regretted having to impose the ban, our first in 15 years, but given the severity of the drought, a cautious approach was needed to keep taps flowing without harming the environment by taking extra water from rivers.”

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3 Companies Lift Hosepipe Ban

At last, three water companies have lifted their hosepipe bans with the rest looking at following them. Southern Water, Sutton and East Surrey Water and Three Valleys Water all announced today that the lifting of restrictions would come into effect from midnight.

This winter has seen all of England and Wales getting higher rainfall than average. Reservoirs are topping up nicely and the all important groundwater levels are also improving steadily. Water UK, representative of the water companies still urged caution:

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Ban Not Being Lifted Yet

Despite positive comments from Thames Water this weekend stating that the hosepipe ban being lifted was “increasingly likely”, they refused to name a date. Although we’ve recently seen higher than average rainfall, widespread flooding and reservoirs filled to the top, an end to the ban is still not the wisest option according to weather experts.

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Website Revamp

We just wanted to let everyone know that this website is going to be enhanced considerably over the coming weeks. In the past we’ve concentrated mainly on having rants about the hosepipe ban in an unorganised blog-style way. This will continue to an extent, but we also want to make this site the web’s number […]

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7 Water Companies still have Hosepipe Ban

Even though we’re in the middle of a wet and windy winter the hosepipe bans stay in place with seven water companies. However, the Environment Agency is positive about the near future. They state the following this week:

 

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Rod Stewart Admits Watering Pitch

Following our post in August, rock legend Rod Stewart has finally admitted ignoring the hosepipe ban this summer in order to keep his personal football pitch in good shape.