UK drought leads to hosepipe ban - Drain Doctor offers water-saving tips

Don't leave taps running. Turn them off and fix dripping taps to save water.

Parts of the UK – mostly in the South East of England - have been drought areas since February. Now, a hose pipe ban has been declared by Southern Water, South East Water, Thames Water, Anglian Water, Sutton and East Surrey, Veolia Central and Veolia South East. The Environment Agency has warned that the drought could spread to effect other areas including East Yorkshire, Hampshire and Wiltshire if the current dry spell continues.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said: “We’re doing all we can to reduce the impact on agriculture and wildlife but everyone can play their part. Households know how to use less water and everyone can do their bit to use water more wisely throughout the year.”

In what is the worst drought to effect the UK since 1976 it is vitally important that we all take steps to save water. At Drain Doctor we have put together some tips to help our customers to do just that:

• Check your plumbing and drains for leaks
• Turn off your tap when you are brushing your teeth
• Take showers rather than baths
• Take fewer showers and for less time
• Repair any dripping taps
• Only use what water you need when filling the kettle to make tea or coffee
• Only use the washing machine when you can put a full load into it
• Keep water in the fridge to chill so that you don’t need to run the tap to get cool water each time
• Place a brick or a ‘hippo’ in the toilet cistern to reduce the amount of water flushed
• If you’re not in a ‘hose pipe ban area,’ use a shut-off nozzle on your hose pipe if you are using it in the garden or to wash the car
• Use a mulch on beds and vegetable plots to retain moisture in the soil to reduce the amount of watering
• Use a water butt to collect rainwater to use on the garden
• Install rainwater and grey water harvesting systems

For more information on water harvesting systems and how you can save water contact Drain Doctor on 0800 33 57 999

Related articles

• National News: Hosepipe ban looms for drought area (coventrytelegraph.net)
• Drought warning: Environment Secretary says hosepipe ban possible (telegraph.co.uk)
• Hosepipe Ban Warning After Winter Drought (news.sky.com)
• Hosepipe bans likely as UK gripped by drought (guardian.co.uk)
• Britain facing summer hosepipe ban as drought risk remains high (telegraph.co.uk)
• UK drought 2012: Water companies say we mustn’t spend more than FOUR minutes in the shower (dailymail.co.uk)
• Q&A: How to deal with a drought (bbc.co.uk)
• Words in the News: Hosepipe (englishblog.com)
• Drought declared in south-east England (guardian.co.uk)
• England heading for hosepipe bans after drier winter than 1976 drought (telegraph.co.uk)

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