Thames Water revealed plans to introduce hosepipe bans from Wednesday, August 24. Picture: Harry Grout via Unsplash

The hosepipe ban affecting people across Reading and Wokingham is expected to last until next year, Thames Water has announced.

The company says there has been some wet weather during September, but river levels are still well below average and reservoirs are at their lowest level since 2003.

Above average rainfall is needed this autumn and winter to replenish reserves to normal levels.

A temporary ban came into force in August, following reports that the River Thames was at its lowest level since 2005, and after a long, hot dry summer with temperatures reaching record highs.

This year has been one of the driest on record, with 10 of the last 12 months experiencing below average rainfall.

As a result, the hosepipe ban remains.

“Our reservoir levels continue to remain below average and a lot more rain will need to fall to get our water levels back to normal,” a Thames Water spokesperson said.

“Our hosepipe ban is still in place to make sure there’s enough water to go around.”

The ban means that using a hose to water gardens and plants, washing cars, cleaning windows, patios and walls, and filling or maintaining a hot tub are forbidden.

Failure to comply can result in fines of up to £1,000.

Some changes allow a hose pipe to be used to on an allotment, on trees, grass and plants for the first 28 days from planting, and to water sports pitches “to maintain their commercial viability”.

Thames Water has been criticised in recent months for failing to fix leaks and dumping raw sewage, whilst still paying executives large bonuses.

The leaks are resulting in the loss of more than 600 million litres of water a day – nearly a quarter of all the water it supplies – according to national reports.

A company spokesperson said they “know it’s not acceptable” to be losing so much water and have met its three-year target “to reduce leaks by 10%”.

Thames Water has set a further target of reducing leakage by 20% by 2025.

Raw sewage was discharged into the River Thames and its tributaries 5,028 times in 2021, according to the Oxford Rivers Improvement Campaign (ORIC), which Thames Water admitted is “unacceptable”.

A spokesperson said they take the matter “very seriously” and are “committed to being transparent” in order to protect and improve the environment.

“Our shareholders have recently approved an additional £2billion into the business so we can improve outcomes for customers, leakage and river health,” they added.

The water company’s bosses were awarded millions of pounds in bonuses despite the issues, which it says are “benchmarked” against other similar-sized organisations and need to pay competitive packages to “attract and retain the best people”.

“Bonuses are dependent on achieving specified performance improvements in key areas including leakage, pollution and customer service,” they added.

Keep up to date by signing up for our daily newsletter

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people who have requested it.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

RDG.Today – which is a Social Enterprise – provides Reading Borough with free, independent news coverage.

If you are able, please support our work

Reading Today is dedicated to providing news online across the whole of the Borough of Reading. It is a Social Enterprise, existing to support the various communities in Reading Borough.

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people that have subscribed

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

The Wokingham Paper Ltd publications are regulated by IPSO – the Independent Press Standards Organisation. If you have a complaint about a  The Wokingham Paper Ltd  publication in print or online, you should, in the first instance, contact the publication concerned, email: [email protected], or telephone: 0118 327 2662. If it is not resolved to your satisfaction, you should contact IPSO by telephone: 0300 123 2220, or visit its website: www.ipso.co.uk. Members of the public are welcome to contact IPSO at any time if they are not sure how to proceed, or need advice on how to frame a complaint.

© 2021 - The Wokingham Paper Ltd - All Right Reserved.

Login to your account below

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.