HOSEPIPE BAN

Wessex Water has announced a hosepipe ban after months of unprecedented dry weather, heatwaves and a continued lack of rain forecast, which has led to sustained high demand for water. 

We have taken this decision after more than 40 days of demand for water remaining at record-breaking levels and the region formally declared as being in drought. We need to protect our water resources for both our customers and the environment. 

It is the first time we have introduced a ban in half a century, since the famous drought of 1976. 

From Tuesday 18 August at 00:01hrs our 1.4 million customers – in areas including Bath, and parts of Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire – must not use a hosepipe for activities such as watering gardens, washing cars, patios, paths and driveways, cleaning windows or filling swimming and paddling pools.  

This isn’t a decision we’ve taken lightly and we’re sorry for the inconvenience it will cause to residents in your area. 

We have worked hard to avoid these restrictions, and the decision comes after a 60% reduction in leakage in the past 30 years and a five-year £230 million investment in our water supply grid which came into use in 2018.