The Hosepipe ban in Yorkshire ended on 6 December 2022. We’re able to lift the hosepipe ban because our reservoirs have filled back up thanks to the amount of rain we had in October and November and because of everyone who’s been doing their bit to use less water.
The restrictions no longer apply but it’s still really important to save water in your business where you can.
Business usage accounts for nearly a third of all water usage in England and based on current forecasting it's estimated that the UK’s water demand will outweigh supply within the next 20 years. That’s why saving water is really important; to help the environment and to make sure there's enough for everyone.
Frequently asked questions
Why are you lifting the ban now?
After a prolonged period of very warm and dry weather this year, our reservoirs needed enough time to top up properly.
We’re lifting the ban now because a number of successful drought schemes, drought permits, increased leakage activity, rainfall, and everyone’s efforts to save water have helped reservoirs to top up. They are now looking much healthier – they’re at around 75%.
Now they’ve had chance to recover, they’re in a healthy position to support water demand over winter and through spring and summer next year.
Are you lifting the ban just because it’s rained?
Increased rainfall has really helped to top the reservoir levels up, but we’ve been working very hard to do everything we can to help. We’ve completed a number of successful drought schemes, applied for drought permits so we can operate our reservoirs differently and abstract more water from rivers, increased leakage activity, as well as asking all of our customers to save water to help!
Is Yorkshire still in a drought?
Despite it feeling like it hasn’t stopped raining recently, Yorkshire is still in a drought according to the Environment Agency.
What's the reservoir levels?
Our reservoir levels are currently 75% full (as of 2 Dec 2022) which is definitely a step in the right direction!