In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
31
Jul
A Yorkshire-wide hosepipe ban will remain in place as reservoir levels continue to fall, Yorkshire Water has said.
Restrictions were imposed across the region on July 11 following a protracted dry spell which saw reservoir capacity fall.
David Kaye, director of water at Yorkshire Water, said the company would remove the ban “as soon as we can” but warned that the restrictions would remain in place at this time.
In a statement today (July 31), Yorkshire Water said levels in reservoir stocks continue to fall —with a 1.7% drop recorded in the last seven days.
The company said total stocks dropped to 47.4%, well below the average of 76.5% for this time of year.
However, reduced water usage since the restrictions were implemented has saved 70-80 million litres per day in warm weather, the company added. Cooler temperatures and rainfall over the last three weeks has also led to savings of approximately 35 million litres.
Mr Kaye said that, despite the savings and patches of rainfall, the hosepipe ban will remain in place.
He said:
A 10% reduction in domestic water use since restrictions were implemented is fantastic and testament to our customers who understand the need to put the hosepipes away and to save water where they can after an extremely dry 2025 so far.
We have seen temperatures drop and patches of rainfall across the region in recent weeks, which both help to bring down demand for water, but reservoir levels are still falling as we continue to distribute over 1.2 billion litres of water every day. We really appreciate the efforts of residential and business customers to do what they can to reduce water usage.
Our teams are working around the clock to find and fix leaks, repairing more than 800 every week to keep water in supply.
The hosepipe restrictions remain in place, and we recently enacted the next stage of our drought plan – the application for drought permits and orders – to manage the water resources picture in the near and longer-term. We will keep customers updated on water resources over the coming weeks and months and will remove the hosepipe restrictions as soon as we can.
1