Essex & Suffolk Water is appealing to customers in its Essex supply area to show restraint with their water use, as hot dry weather and high demand are putting pressure on water resources.
The ask from the water company follows Monday’s announcement by the Environment Agency that East Anglia is in the ‘prolonged dry weather’ stage, and Thursday’s introduction of a temporary use ban, or hosepipe ban, in the neighbouring Thames Water area.
Essex & Suffolk Water is the only water company in the South East area without a temporary use ban.
However, it is not ruling out potential restrictions at some point over summer and will continue to monitor the situation closely to see what impact the forecasted weather and water demand has on water supplies.
Currently, the company’s water stocks are below average, with reservoir levels for Hanningfield and Abberton currently at 72 per cent full (Tuesday 21 July).
There has been a significant drop in the last month, due to increased demand and usage by customers. Demand for water in Essex is 13 per cent above average, an extra 56 million litres a day, which is like adding an additional Basildon and Southend-on-Sea on to our existing supply area.
The exceptionally dry conditions have also had an impact.
Essex has recorded no rainfall during July, reducing river flows and affecting reservoir levels.
Soil conditions are currently 129 per cent drier than average and so when it does rain, it will take some time for this to recharge underground water sources.
To try and protect supplies, leakage has been a priority for Essex & Suffolk Water and in the first six months of the year (January to June), teams repaired 3,533 leaks across the network as a part of ongoing efforts to protect water resources.
And expert teams are doing everything they can 24/7 to move water around the networks to manage supplies to all areas.
Kieran Ingram, Water Director, said: “Thanks to a wet winter, our reservoirs had a good refill season, and we started the summer in a stronger position. We’ve also continued to invest in improving resilience, including major upgrades and improvements around Abberton Reservoir in recent years to store more raw water.
“But water resources are always influenced by the weather. If the hot, dry conditions continue and our exceptionally high customer demand continues too, we may need to take further action to protect supplies, including considering a temporary use ban.
“We’re all in this together, we’re continuing to invest, fixing every leak we find as quickly as possible, and every action customers take to use water wisely helps protect supplies for everyone.”
To read the Environment Agency’s announcement of prolonged dry weather: National Drought Group steps up response after third heatwave - GOV.UK
To find out how you can play your part and save water, visit our website: Water saving tips.