No hosepipe ban, but use carefully says water firm

The water company supplying most of the East of England said it had no intention of introducing a region-wide hosepipe ban despite record temperatures this month.

Anglian Water covers Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk, Northamptonshire and Suffolk as well as parts of Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Hartlepool in County Durham.

Ian Rule, director of water services, said while the company had "no plans to introduce a hosepipe ban this year", he urged customers to avoid using them to conserve water.

The BBC Weather service said Thursday was "another record-breaking day across the UK with all four nations seeing their highest temperatures of the year so far".

Rule said: "During this current heatwave, we're having to produce more water than ever before to keep everyone on supply, so we'd urge customers to avoid using hosepipes and use less water wherever they can."

Anglian Water provides services to almost seven million people and said demand had rocketed in the high temperatures, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

As a result, the company put a record 1,600 million litres of water into supply on Wednesday which was a third higher than its typical distribution of 1,200 million litres a day.

"We recognise water plays an important part in keeping cool and staying hydrated during the heat," Rule said.

"Anywhere you can cut back – for instance, by reusing water from paddling pools to water your garden, taking shorter showers or putting off non-essential tasks like washing the car – will make a significant difference over the coming days," he added.

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