GOOD NEWS EVERYONE, THE HOSE PIPE BAN HAS BEEN CANCELLED

United Utilities who are the providers of water to Salford and surrounding areas, has called off it's planned hosepipe ban. The reason being that all of the recent heavy rainfall has eased demand for water.

The ban was set to start this Saturday (5th August) but with just three days before it was to be enforced UU have decided that reservoir levels are sufficient and there is no longer a need to impose restrictions on its customers.

They also state that efforts by customers to save water have helped maintain water levels in reservoirs but some would argue that the amount saved is a drop in the ocean when compared to the estimated 430 Million Litres of water lost due to leaks which equates to around 175 Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth of water per day lost from the system each and every day.

The firm has faced criticism over a £180 million dividend given to shareholders and also for the state of its infrastructure and apparent inability to deal with leaks in a satisfactory manner.

On average 1.96in of rain has fallen across the UK from start to end of July, whereas 42 years ago the July figure was just 1.70in.

In a statement UU water services director, Dr Martin Padley said:

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“We would like to thank all of our customers who have helped in recent weeks by conserving water wherever they can around the home and in the garden.

“Our leakage teams are working 24 hours a day to find and repair as many leaks as possible and we have been moving water around our network.

“We have also been making operational interventions such as the installation of new pumping stations, pumping between reservoirs, bringing groundwater sources into use and prioritising maintenance to help ensure supplies have not been interrupted during the prolonged hot spell.

“Given the improved position, helped by recent rainfall, we do not want to inconvenience customers unnecessarily at this time.

“However, the long-range forecast from the Met Office is one of relatively dry weather into the autumn, so future restrictions are still a possibility if more rain doesn’t arrive.

“In the meantime, we are continuing to step up our own response and over the coming weeks, you will see our teams out and about, bringing additional water supplies online and fixing even more leaks.

“We are working closely with the Environment Agency in monitoring the water resources situation and we still urge customers to please help us by using water wisely where they can.”

 

However, with further possibilities of the return of the heatwave, UU have not completely dismissed the need to impose a ban in the future.