Yorkshire Water this weekend became the first water company in the north of England to announce a standpipe ban, following South East Water and Southern Water in the south. Thames Water in London said it was considering a ban.
Of the other companies contacted by The Times, seven companies did not respond to the question, while one – Southern Water – declined to provide the information.
Drought has been declared in half of England after the country recorded its driest July since 1935 ahead of another heatwave expected to peak this weekend.
Eight of England’s 14 Environment Agency areas now have drought status. These are: Devon and Cornwall, Solent and South Downs, Kent and South London, Hertfordshire and North London, East Anglia, Thames, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, East Midlands.
Yorkshire and the West Midlands are expected to join the list later in August.
Water companies have been criticized for introducing hose bans while failing to fix leaks that account for 20 percent of the country’s daily water use.
Even if every water company in the country imposed a hose ban, it would only save half the amount of water lost every day due to leaks. According to Water UK, a trade organisation, banning hosepipes would save 1.5 billion liters of water a day – 10% of what is used nationally.
Twice as much – more than £3 billion liters – is lost every day through leaks, according to Ofwat, the regulator.
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