Southern Water declares hosepipe ban

Southern Water announced the measure today (March 13), which will restrict the use of hosepipes and sprinklers primarily for domestic use in Kent and Sussex.

This also includes, watering of public parks, gardens and allotments, filling swimming and paddling pools, ponds, fountains and restricted use of any apparatus connected to a hosepipe.

These are the first water restrictions since 2005/06, with six other utility companies in the South East following suit.

Meyrick Gough, water strategy manager for Southern Water, said: “While firmly playing our part in managing supplies we will continue to offer customers advice on how they can avoid wasting water in the garden and the home, as part of our Save Water, Save Energy, Save Money campaign.”

He added: “As the weather gets warmer, the demand for water will rise and, therefore, to safeguard supplies throughout the summer we need to restrict the amount of water used in gardens.”

According to Southern Water’s figures gardening water accounts for six per cent of supplied water, but this can rise to 70 per cent on a hot day. It also says that reducing garden-use water will safeguard supplies for drinking and household use.