South East Water customers told to 'pause all hose use' amid heatwave
South East Water customers have been told to 'pause all hose use' amid another heatwave in Sussex.
The company has asked customers to ‘please use water for essential purposes only’ over the next ten days, as Sussex reaches ‘red status’.
In an email to customers, a South East Water spokesperson said: “With more hot weather forecast for the next ten days, we’re asking all customers across Sussex, Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey to please pause all hose use and only use water for essential purposes only: drinking, cooking and hygiene.
“Due to the consistently warm weather, demand for water is staying exceptionally high. This means treated drinking water supplies are under serious stress, so we’ve moved your area to red status.
“While there are no formal restrictions in place, to protect your local water supplies and make sure there is enough for everyone's daily needs, it’s really important that we all work together.
"Every drop saved helps to prevent temporary hosepipe restrictions.”
The water supplier has stressed the guidance is ‘temporary, just while we get through this latest heatwave’.
The South East Water spokesperson added: “Untreated (raw) water in reservoirs and groundwater sources were healthy going into spring and early summer following the higher than average winter rainfall. However, since March we’ve received just over half the expected rainfall across all areas we supply. This means these levels are starting to fall too.
“On 5 July, the total amount of water we treated and put into the network was 655 million litres - that’s 67 million more than the average for July - and it’ll likely be more with hotter weather forecast for the next 10 days.
“When demand stays this high day after day, we really struggle to keep local drinking water storage tanks full. Without your help, people living at the far end of our network or on higher ground are at real risk of their taps running dry.”
The company said customers can ‘help prevent formal hosepipe restrictions’ by doing the following:
- Pause all hose use
- Only use water for essential purposes (drinking, cooking and hygiene)
- Swap the sprinkler for water pistols to let the kids cool down
- Hold off on refilling paddling pools or hot tubs
- Put the jet washer away for now