07/08/2026
Notice from Wessex Water
Please help us avoid the need for a hosepipe ban across our region by sharing the information below within your organisation and network.
Following months of unprecedented dry weather and repeated heatwaves we’re asking our customers to work together with us to avoid the need to break our 50-year record and implement a hosepipe ban.
This summer has been exceptionally dry, with just 2mm of rainfall in July – that’s 97% less than average.
Water resources across our region – which covers Bath, and most of Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire – currently remain stable, with surface water reservoirs being 58% full at the end of July. But demand has been approximately 30% above average levels for this time of year, at 400 million litres per day for 35 consecutive days – that’s the equivalent of 3,875 hosepipes running constantly every day.
The challenge throughout the summer has been moving water through the network quickly enough to meet record levels of demand. This also has an impact on water stored in service (underground) reservoirs, which normally replenish quickly when demand for water is lower.
Many water companies across the country have imposed hosepipe bans due to the prolonged dry weather this summer. At Wessex Water we’re proud of our record of not having a hosepipe ban for 50 years – please help us maintain it!
With unprecedented heatwaves and dry conditions forecast for the next six weeks, we need to work together to ensure we do not have to impose any water restrictions. If demand does not reduce, we will need to introduce more formal measures to protect water supplies.
Please help us by calling on our customers – residents in your area – to take action.
Small switches can have a big impact. We're asking customers to focus on a few simple actions that can help reduce demand while still enjoying the summer. A press release on this will be issued today.
For our water saving information and advice which you can share, visit: Hot weather and your water supply | Wessex Water
What have we done to avoid a hosepipe ban for 50 years
We have made huge investments to ensure we have water supply resilience, including:
Invested £230 million on a water supply grid between 2010 and 2018 to make sure we can move water around our region to reach areas where water is scarce, or there is high demand.
Reducing leakage by 60% in the last 30 years.
In the past three months alone, £16 million has been invested across the region in water supply assets.
If all customers can make small changes to their daily water use habits, this will make a big impact and together we can keep water flowing for each other, businesses and the environment.
Kind regards
Ruth Jefferson
Chief Executive
Wessex Water
Operations Centre, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7WW
