The South West Water Hosepipe Ban’s First Birthday
In the summer of 2022 South West Water announced their first hosepipe ban of the current drought on August 15th:
From 00:01am on 23 August 2022, customers who get their water from us in Cornwall and a small part of Devon will not be allowed to use a hosepipe.
It’s the first time in 26 years but we’ve been left with no other choice. We need to have a hosepipe ban now to protect our precious water.
On April 18th 2023 an extension to the temporary use ban was announced:
South West Water is urging customers to reduce non-essential water usage by extending the Temporary Use Ban, otherwise known as a hosepipe ban, which is already in place in Cornwall and parts of North Devon, to other parts of Devon.
The restrictions are being introduced to protect supplies following lower than average levels of rainfall last year and throughout February.
The hosepipe ban will apply to customers in South West Water’s Roadford supply area and will come into effect from Tuesday 25 April 2023 at 00:01.
While South West Water has taken every precaution to prevent further restrictions being required, Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly remain officially in drought status as declared by the Environment Agency.
Reservoir levels fell to their lowest recorded level last year and storage at Roadford Lake is currently around 27% lower than it was at the same time in 2022, the equivalent to nearly 3,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
It’s raining here in West Devon yet again this morning, as the first anniversary of the imposition of the continuing hosepipe ban rapidly approaches:
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