Following the hosepipe ban introduced last month, Yorkshire Water has reported a significant drop in water usage across the county. However, reservoir levels remain critically low, and restrictions are set to continue…
What’s changed since the ban?
The first weekend after the ban came into effect, during a spell of hot weather, demand fell by an estimated 80-100 million litres per day, compared to similar conditions in June.
Since then, usage has remained around 10% lower than before the ban, with customers saving an average of 80 million litres daily. Wet weather over the weekend of 19th – 20th July also helped ease the pressure on the water system, contributing an additional 35 million litres in savings.
Despite these improvements, reservoir levels are still well below normal for this time of year:
- Current reservoir levels:4%
- Typical for this time of year:5%
Restrictions still in place
Yorkshire Water has confirmed that hosepipe restrictions will remain in place for the time being, as the region continues to deal with the effects of a very dry 2025.
Dave Kaye, Director of Water at Yorkshire Water, said:
“A 10 per cent reduction in domestic water use since restrictions were implemented is fantastic and testament to our customers who understand the need to put the hosepipes away and to save water where they can after an extremely dry 2025 so far… We really appreciate the efforts of residential and business customers to do what they can to reduce water usage… The hosepipe restrictions remain in place, and we recently enacted the next stage of our drought plan to manage the water resources picture in the near and longer-term.”
What else is being done?
Yorkshire Water is continuing a large-scale effort to reduce leakage across the network. Since April:
- 100 extra engineers have joined the leakage response team
- Over 800 leaks are being fixed each week
- The team now operates 24/7 with around 500 staff on rotation
The company is also applying to regulators to temporarily increase river abstraction and reduce outflows from reservoirs, helping to preserve supplies through the autumn.
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