South East Water announces hosepipe ban

South East Water has become the second water company to announce a ban on hose lines and sprinkler systems during the UK’s recent drought.

The ban applies to residents of Kent and Sussex and comes into effect on Friday 12 August.

“Demand for water this summer has broken all previous records, including the Covid lockdown heatwave,” announced South East Water.

“We produce an additional 120 million liters of water per day to supply our customers, which is equivalent to the daily supply of four other cities the size of Maidstone or Eastbourne.”

“We are taking this step to ensure we have enough water for essential uses and to protect the environment. It also allows us to reduce the amount of water we have to withdraw from already strained local water sources.”

Under the ban, residents are not allowed to:

• Water a garden with a hose
• Clean a private motor vehicle (or a trailer for such a vehicle) with a hose
• Hose water plants in residential or other non-commercial spaces
• Clean a private pleasure boat with a hose
• Fill or maintain a private swimming or paddling pool
• Withdraw water with a hose for recreational household use
• Fill or maintain a domestic pond (man-made or natural) with a hose
• Fill or maintain an ornamental fountain (including a cascade or other display of flowing water and including having it filled by permanent plumbing)
• Clean living room walls or windows with a hose
• Clean other outdoor artificial surfaces with a hose
• Clean paths or patios with a hose

Southern Water last week announced the first hosepipe ban of the year for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight from this Friday.

Official figures showed that July was the driest since 1935 and the period between November 2021 and July 2022 was the driest eight-month period since 1976.