Hosepipe ban expected to last into 2023, admits Thames Water

Thames Water has admitted that a hosepipe ban affecting 10 million people across the south of England is expected to last into next year.

The restriction came into force across London and the Thames Valley on Aug 24.

Despite rainfall in September, reservoirs have not been adequately replenished following a record heatwave across Britain and the driest July for 50 years.

Andrew Tucker, the water demand reduction manager at Thames Water, said there was no definite date for lifting the ban and confirmed it was unlikely to end before 2023.

He told the BBC: “We are still trying to recover from a really tough year that Mother Nature threw at us. Ten of the last 12 months have been below average rainfall.

“We’ve had a little bit in September and we can see the grass is now greening up. But an average September doesn’t make up for 10 months of dry and record heat.”

The majority of England and Wales is still classified as being in a drought by the Environment Agency, and Mr Tucker said: “We’ve got to make sure that we’ve got enough water for everyone in the longer term,” Mr Tucker added.

A drought was officially declared across most of England following the driest first half of the year since 1976.

Thames Water, along with firms including Welsh Water, Southern Water, South East Water, South West Water and Yorkshire Water, implemented hosepipe bans.

A Thames Water spokesman said: “We want to thank our customers for helping us to save water since we introduced the temporary use ban last month.

“However, despite recent rain and our hosepipe ban, there’s still much less water in our rivers than usual. Our hosepipe ban is still in place to make sure there’s enough water to go around.”