Drought News

Today I have received an important letter from Southern Water about restrictions that they intend to bring in across their region.

At the moment these do not apply to residents in Hilsea, or indeed across Portsmouth, but if the low rainfall continues then there is the real possibility that they could be extended and may be used by other companies such as Portsmouth Water. 

"Dear Councillor Thompson

As you may already be aware, the Secretary of State for the Environment has declared that a large part of southern and eastern England is in drought. This comes following the second driest 12 months on record, with nine of the last 16 months recording below average rainfall.

From October 2011 to January 2012, the south east received on average only 73 per cent of normal rainfall needed to fill reservoirs, rivers and underground sources ready for use in the summer. Winter rainfall is essential to recharge water sources, particularly underground, which supply about 70 per cent of the water in our region.

To manage this situation we will, for the first time in six years, bring in restrictions on water use. This will involve restricting the use of hosepipes and sprinklers, primarily for domestic use, not commercial, in our Kent and Sussex supply areas from April 5. This is part of our drought management process and is being introduced in direct response to the water resources available, in a planned and measured way, as a way of reducing demand and helping to preserve supplies. Six of our neighbouring water supply companies including Thames, South East and Anglian Water are also introducing similar restrictions. The restrictions will not currently affect our customers in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight where the resources are in a stronger position however, this will remain under review and we strongly urge customers in these areas not to waste water.

Thanks to improvements made to our supply network we are in a better position than we would have been in these circumstances in previous years. Our ongoing leak reduction programme has resulted in us recording our lowest leakage levels in four years, we have replaced 127km of water mains in the last two years to help reduce the risk of burst pipes and leaks and a further 129km will be replaced before 2015. In addition, our new storage reservoir in Hardham, West Sussex, is playing a major role in ensuring adequate water supplies are available. We have also installed more than 150,000 water meters, equipped with leak alarms, across our water supply area to help reduce demand. This is part of our five-year metering programme that will see 92 per cent of our customers metered by 2015, reducing water use by about 10%.

However, as the weather gets warmer, the demand for water will rise and, therefore, to safeguard supplies throughout the summer we need to restrict the amount of water used in gardens. In the past our customers have helped us to reduce demand. During the summer of 2006, when we were last in drought, they helped to save 43 million litres of water a day and the support of our customers and communities is greatly appreciated.

Since 2006 the legislation has been updated so this will differ slightly to the last time we introduced restrictions. Details of the activities that are restricted and the areas affected can be found on our website www.southernwater.co.uk/drought

Please have my assurance that we will continue to do everything we can to manage our water supplies and tackle leakage at this time and offer our customers help and advice on how they can avoid wasting water in the garden and home.

Yours sincerely

Meyrick Gough

Water Strategy Manager

Southern Water"