Water firm imposes hosepipe ban in north-west England

A hosepipe ban is to be introduced in most of north-west England for the first time in 14 years.

The temporary ban, which will affect millions of householders in the region, will come into force at 0600 BST on Friday, United Utilities has said.

The firm said the measure will help "safeguard essential supplies".

Water levels in many reservoirs and lakes have plummeted to less than half their capacity due to the region's driest start to the year since 1929.

The water shortage comes just months after hundreds of properties were flooded in Cumbria following severe storms.

More than 1,300 properties were flooded across the county, with Cockermouth, Workington and Keswick worst affected.

Despite spells of rain over recent weeks, supply levels have failed to sufficiently increase.

Anybody caught flouting the ban may face a fine of up to £1,000.

Householders in Carlisle, Allerdale, Copeland and the north Eden Valley, all in Cumbria, are not affected, as their water comes from a different supply to the rest of the North West.

John Sanders, from United Utilities, said: "Despite some recent rainfall in the north of the region, reservoir levels are still significantly lower than we would expect at this time of year and are now at a point where we need to impose some temporary restrictions on our customers.

"It is not a decision we have taken lightly, but a hosepipe can use as much water in an hour as a family of four would use in one day.

"This ban will help us to safeguard essential water supplies to our customers if the drought continues."

The ban will restrict the use of hosepipes or sprinklers for watering private gardens and washing private cars.

People can still water their gardens with a watering can and wash their vehicles using a bucket and sponge, which use a fraction of the amount of water that a hosepipe or sprinkler does.

Drought permits

The company issued warnings about the possibility of restrictions last month when it applied to the Environment Agency for a drought permit.

The permit, which is still under consideration, allows them to take more water from Ennerdale reservoir, in Cumbria.

The plans have been placed on hold as recent rain means Ennerdale is one area where supplies remain at reasonable levels.

The firm is applying for new permits for Rivington reservoir, near Bolton, and Longdendale in Derbyshire.

There will also be an application to take additional water out of Windermere, Cumbria.

Source

They said this was going to happen a good few weeks ago, we have been in official drought status for some time now.

kind of inevitabe this was going to happen

we had no "april showers" and little or no rain since

Deffo had "some" rain since April, not sure how your memory is, but it was pissing down last week lol. But certainly nowhere near enough!

it will rain friday and saturday?????

Not been enough rain I suppose. No doubt after we've had a week of rain they will say it hasn't rained high enough in the mountains of North Wales to feed the reservoirs.

Nothing to do with all the leaks they can't plug!!

It's also now too late in the year for rainfall (unless we get weeks of really heavy rain in North Wales) to make much differance as most of the rainfall now wil get sucked up by plants and trees or evaporate.

If you have a look at how quick the ground is drying after it stops raining at the moment this illustrates how quick the moisture is going back into the atmosphere.

It's not panic stations yet cos a normal winter would fix the problem, if we get another dry winter again though we're really up sh*t creek with water being tankered into the North West and stand pipes and the like..........

Dont know what all the panic is about, in 2 and a half weeks when the schools break up it will be none stop rain , then the sun will appear again in sept when the kids go back.

too true, it' probably rain non stop when the ban comes in.

Maybe the utility companies need to take their fingers out their ar**s and stick those fingers into all their leaking pipes

ok we have a hose pipe ban. do we have a payment ban. i mean do we still have to pay our bills lol

What annoys me is that countries like Australia dont have a problem...over there it doesnt rain for 6 months at a time and yet they manage. United Utilities should pay their shareholders less and concentrate on building more resevoirs and securing a propper supply for their paying customers (and lets face it we DO pay through the nose for the priveledge)! After all there has been enough informationabout climate change and we've been having 'freak' weather for how many years? It seems very very shortsighted....

These hosepipe bans cripple me. How am I meant to wee, I ask you?!

Its all well and good saying build more Resevoirs. Try and find a valley that has not got houses in it, or is not part of a national park. So that you avoid the planning appeals and public debates which after 3 or 4 years then go to a further appeal.

i have it sussed!!! throw some de-salination plants up and use the sea water to make fresh water and it'll keep the "rising" sea levels down at the same time. simples

The amount of reservoir storage we have is more than adequate, it just needs better management.

The collection of water to feed the reservoirs needs to be augmented and maintained, this was totally ignored for a number of years.

Less reliance on water storage facilities that are difficult to replenish.

Reduction of water pressure to reduce the effect of leaks, this was promised but when they started to fix the major pipeline leaks, most houses water pressures have increased noticeably as a result of reduced leaks.

Reduction of evaporation from reservoirs - unfortunately this has always been controversial due to the visual appearance and the affect on wildlife.

Other countries have very successfully used de-salination techniques, I cant see why it would be a problem FFS we're surrounded by sea water...

This hose pipe ban is going to be a nightmare.. I have a 30x80 allotment I grow all my veggies on, It's going to take me upwards of an hour a day to water it.. so I'll probably end up with dead plants and having to buy my veg at the supermarket ... gah my poor carbon footprint =(

Problem solved lmao!

See what i mean, the kids finish tommorrow

North west deluge not enough to allow hosepipe ban to be lifted says United Utililities


LAKES and reservoirs in West Cumbria have recovered following the deluge of rain over the past two weeks -but the hosepipe ban will remain in force.

THE north west’s water provider said the weekend rainfall across the region was welcome, and confirmed the withdrawal of its drought permit application for Ennerdale Lake from the Environment Agency.

Ennerdale and Crummock – the key reservoirs supplying West Cumbria – are now full. Thirlmere and Haweswater reservoirs, in the Lake District saw an 8% increase in water levels rising from 50% a week ago, to 58% by Sunday night.

But United Utilities warned further sustained rainfall is required before all reservoirs fully recover.

The north west has only seen two-thirds the normal average rainfall since April, much has simply started to re-wet the ground that had completely dried out due to the driest seven months on record.

Reservoirs across the Pennines in Lancashire remain particularly low despite the recent storms in the county, with many still less than half full, the lowest since records began 74 years ago.

Normally at this time of the year Pennine & Lake District reservoirs should be around 70% full.

Meanwhile, heavy rain across other parts of Cumbria during the past seven days helped river flows and lake levels to increase sufficiently enabling the water firm to re-start their pumping stations at Lakes Windermere and Ullswater, the first time since Easter.

A spokesman for UU said: "We’re monitoring reservoir levels on a daily basis and we will lift the hosepipe ban as soon as all reservoirs recover to normal.

"There is more rain forecasted for the region, and whilst not great for summer, is welcomed to bring the driest start to the year back into balance.”


THE WIRRAL GLOBE

Mersey will burst it banks due to the deluge and they will still say..."not enough rain"!!!

cant u tell the kids have broken up for teh summer hols ....6 weeks of rain then they will go back and the sun will come out again

North West's hosepipe ban lifted after heavy rain

A hosepipe ban across the North West of England has been lifted after weeks of wet weather.

United Utilities imposed the ban on 9 July after the region's driest start to a year since records began in 1929.

Despite a month in which parts of the region were hit by torrential rain and flash floods, Pennine reservoir levels remain below average.

But the water firm is shifting supplies from North Wales and Cumbria allowing it to lift the restrictions.

The prolonged dry spell at the beginning of 2010 resulted in reservoirs falling to less than half their capacity in some cases.

It meant up to seven million homes in parts of Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire were asked to save water just as their gardens were getting hit with heavy downpours.

Following significant July and August rainfall and water conservation efforts, United Utilities announced the end of restrictions on Thursday.

Richard Blackwell, United Utilities' supply demand manager, thanked customers for their patience.

"Our key reservoirs in Cumbria and North Wales are now at the kind of levels we would expect for the time of year," he said.

"Pennine reservoir levels remain below normal, with some still at very low levels, but we are now able to compensate for this shortfall by moving more water from Cumbria and North Wales using our integrated pipe network.

"Overall, the situation is much improved and the ban is no longer required to safeguard essential supplies.

"Although the ban is over, some of our reservoirs are still very low, so it's important that people continue to do what they can to save water around the home and garden."

The ban restricted the use of hosepipes or sprinklers for watering private gardens and washing private cars - but businesses were not affected.

United Utilities said its customers saved about of three billion litres (880 million gallons) of water during the ban.

BBC News