Southern Water issues hosepipe ban for Hampshire and Isle of Wight

Southern Water is the latest company to announce a hosepipe ban – affecting almost one million customers – due to prolonged dry weather.

The move will come into force for residents across much of Hampshire and all of the Isle of Wight from 09:00 BST on Monday.

It will ban the use of a hosepipe for activities such as watering the garden, washing the car or filling a paddling pool.

Managing director Tim McMahon apologised to customers and said: “Only by working together can we make sure there’s enough water to go around for customers and the environment.”

Announcing the temporary water restrictions, it called on customers to act immediately and avoid a “spike” in demand that could make the situation worse.

The restrictions will apply to 791,000 customers in 336,000 properties in Hampshire as well as 144,000 customers in 75,000 properties on the Isle of Wight.

The River Test and Itchen chalk streams supply most of the water in the area but are at “critically low levels” – down 24% on normal flows for this time of year, the company said.

The Environment Agency also declared the Solent and South Downs were experiencing “prolonged dry weather”.

The water company was fined £90m in 2021 after raw sewage was discharged across Hampshire, West Sussex and Kent.

Gary Carter, of the GMB trade union, said: “Southern Water loses more than 100 million litres of water through leaks every single day.

“GMB members at Southern work their socks off but they’re hamstrung by crumbling infrastructure and non-existent investment.

“For Southern to now impose a hosepipe, while bills rocket, is shameless.”

Southern Water’s figure for daily leakage is slightly lower, at 91 million litres.

It said it fixed record numbers last year but would have to almost double its rate to hit a target set by Ofwat for 2030.

Several other water companies have already introduced hosepipe bans, including Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and South East Water.

People found to be using a hosepipe during a ban can be fined up to £1,000.

Mr McMahon said: “We have to respond to the widespread and prolonged dry weather affecting our region.

“In our case, this means a hosepipe ban for our customers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, to protect the health of our amazing chalk streams, which as one of the rarest habitats on earth has been compared to the Amazon Rainforest.

“We must act now to support the wildlife that live there, including Atlantic salmon and southern damselfly.”

He continued: “Our teams are working 24/7 to find and fix leaks faster than ever, using a wide range of innovative solutions like drones, sensors and even sniffer dogs, and are ensuring that our pipes, reservoirs and water supply works are working as efficiently as possible – but sadly this is not enough.”

Water Minister Emma Hardy said: “We face a growing water shortage in the next decade which is why we are pushing ahead with urgent water reforms.

“Our Plan for Change includes £104 billion of private investment to build nine reservoirs and new pipes to cut leaks.”