For millions of households across southern England, the humble hosepipe has become a forbidden tool. From Saturday, South East Water customers in Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire will be banned from using hosepipes for watering gardens, cleaning cars, filling paddling pools, or any other domestic task. The ban, which already applied to the company’s Kent customers since 3 July, now covers a total of 2.4 million people — and it comes after the region just experienced the longest unbroken spell of no recorded rainfall this century.
A hosepipe ban is exactly what it sounds like: a legally enforceable restriction that prohibits using a hosepipe for non-essential water uses. Under the South East Water ban, households cannot attach a hosepipe to their taps for any purpose — including cleaning patios, washing boats, or filling ponds. The ban takes effect at midnight on Saturday, but the company has asked customers to stop using hosepipes immediately. The measure is intended to preserve water supplies for essential needs like drinking, cooking and hygiene, after record-breaking heat and low rainfall left reservoirs dangerously low. South East Water’s Arlington Reservoir in East Sussex dropped to a level that triggered its drought plan, and the region has received only 55% of its average rainfall since March.
“Explains what a hosepipe ban is, why South East Water has expanded its ban to 2.4 million people, and what it means for UK households.”
Hosepipe bans are a relatively rare but recurring response to drought conditions in the UK. They are imposed by water companies under their statutory drought plans when supplies become critically low. The current crisis stems from a combination of factors: an exceptionally hot and dry summer, with temperatures reaching 37.3C on the hottest June day ever recorded; 28 days so far this year where temperatures have exceeded 30C somewhere in the UK; and a lack of significant rainfall for weeks, with Wisley in Surrey recording no rain for 31 days. Central and south-east England went 14 consecutive days without any recorded rainfall from July 2 to July 15, the driest spell since 1997 in the south-east and since 1996 in central England. Reservoir storage levels across England are now at 79% of the long-term average, with six reservoirs classed as “notably low” and one (Blagdon in Somerset) as “exceptionally low”.
For UK readers, the ban is more than an inconvenience — it has real economic and psychological consequences. Toby Cooper, landlord of The Bull in Tunbridge Wells, told the BBC he had to close his pub on a Saturday night for the third time in a year due to a lack of water, costing him between £5,000 and £6,000 in trade. Mike Keil, chief executive of the Consumer Council for Water, said customers in the area are “sick to death of living under a constant cloud of uncertainty as to whether their taps will keep running”, and warned that the bans undermine people’s motivation to save water. The ban also comes after South East Water was ordered by industry watchdog Ofwat to spend £30.5m on improvements, and the firm warned in its annual report that it needed fresh financing after a £55m hit from winter outages. Eastbourne MP Josh Babarinde said he was “appalled”, calling the situation “the direct result of years of underinvestment in upgrading infrastructure and building resilience”.
Q: What can and can’t I do under a hosepipe ban? Under the South East Water ban, you are not allowed to use a hosepipe for watering gardens or plants, cleaning cars, filling ponds or swimming pools, or washing patios and boats. You may still use a watering can, bucket, or other hand-held container. The ban applies to domestic properties only, not businesses that rely on water for their core operations.
Q: How long will the hosepipe ban last? The ban has no fixed end date. It will remain in force until South East Water deems that water supplies have recovered sufficiently. The company will review conditions regularly, and the ban will be lifted only after significant rainfall and improved reservoir levels.
Q: Why is South East Water imposing a ban while other companies are not? Each water company has its own drought plan and supply network. South East Water relies heavily on reservoirs, which have been particularly depleted in its area due to low rainfall and high demand. Other companies in southern England, such as Southern Water and Thames Water, have not yet imposed bans, but they are monitoring the situation closely.
What happens next depends on the weather. The Environment Agency publishes weekly drought reports, and the next update will show whether the rain-free spell has broken. If dry conditions persist, more water companies may introduce similar restrictions. South East Water has already asked customers to cut water use immediately, and the company says it is “deeply sorry” for the disruption. The longer-term challenge is infrastructure: the company has been ordered to invest £30.5m in improvements, but critics say years of underinvestment have left the network vulnerable. For now, millions of households must adapt to a summer without hosepipes.