Displaying items by tag: hosepipe ban

On 25 April, Labour accused the Tories of turning the green land into an 'open sewer' after they tabled an amendment to Labour’s sewage bill. The environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, said that people are ‘rightly disgusted’ about the excessive sewage dumped into rivers, and the Government would be making sewage reduction targets legally binding. Pray for our government to agree to a reform of the water industry that is both successful and economically sound. Also, on the same day a hosepipe ban came into force across most of Devon to help replenish water supplies ahead of the summer. An earlier ban, covering Cornwall and a small part of Devon, is still in place. 390,000 homes are affected by the restriction. 

A prolonged dry spell and record-breaking temperatures have left rivers at exceptionally low levels, depleted reservoirs, and dried-out soils. Environment secretary George Eustice has urged more firms to take action to mitigate the effects of the prolonged dry weather. But each water company has different thresholds and demands, so we might not see a UK-wide ban. Sir Robert Goodwill, chairman of the environment, food and rural affairs select committee said, ‘It costs water companies money to impose a hosepipe ban and I suspect they have held off longer than they would have done twenty years ago when most people were unmetered and just paid their water rate.’ His comments come as the UK prepares to declare a drought. Water UK say that climate change and an increasing population mean there could be water shortages by 2050. On 10 August Thames Water sent water tankers to residents in the first place in Britain to run dry when Stokenchurch reservoir was found to contain E.coli.

After the driest July since 1935, hosepipe bans will be introduced in Kent and Sussex on 12 August and Hampshire and the Isle of Wight on the 5th. England has been moved into ‘prolonged dry weather’ status (the stage before a drought). Restrictions mean people cannot use hosepipes or anything that connects to an outside tap. Breaking the rules could lead to a £1,000 fine. Water UK said people use twice as much water as they did sixty years ago. Supplies must not be taken for granted. To avoid further bans people could collect water from baths, washing up, and cooking, known as grey water. Water used for cooking vegetables is nutritious for plants. Cutting off the end of a plastic bottle creates a funnel to channel water to the roots of plants, avoiding wastage. People can also reuse paddling pool water, wash dogs outside, and fill ponds with rainwater.