To protect water supplies and the environment in Sussex, South East Water is today implementing further hosepipe restrictions for customers by removing exemptions.

This means that any customers who were exempt from hosepipe restrictions, under the current temporary use ban, will no longer be able to use their hosepipe.

The drinking water company has also applied for a Non-Essential Use Ban (NEUB) today, which is focused on commercial and non-household water use and requires approval by the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

South East Water’s Ardingly Reservoir serves 228,000 customers in Haywards Heath and the surrounding areas in Sussex. Despite recent rainfall, the reservoir is only 22.8 per cent full and has triggered the next level of South East Water’s Drought Plan. As a result, further steps need to be taken to protect water supplies and the environment.

Nick Price, Head of Water Resources at South East Water, said:

“The prolonged period of warm and dry weather we have experienced during the spring and summer has made the ground very dry and reduced flows in local streams and rivers. We need more rain to moisten the ground, filter deep down into the underground aquifers, and boost the rivers and reservoirs that supply customers’ drinking water.

“These conditions have resulted in the water levels of our Sussex reservoirs becoming extremely low, especially Ardingly, which has moved further into drought. This is why we need to take these extra steps now. Our absolute priority is making sure there is always enough water for everyone’s essential daily needs.

“We know that restrictions can cause some concern for some of our customers; however, our priority is to restore long-term resilience to break this cycle. We are focused on delivering our long-term business plan, designed to build a more stable supply for customers and secure water resources for the future.

“I would like to thank everyone who has already taken steps to try and reduce their overall water use.”

On Friday, 28 August, South East Water applied for a Drought Permit in Sussex and it was granted by the Environment Agency on Tuesday, 29 September.

The permit allows the drinking water company to reduce the amount of additional water that is released from Ardingly Reservoir into the Shell Brook tributary of the River Ouse and reduce the minimum flow of water that must remain in the river at Barcombe Mills after water has been taken from it for customers.

Those who have been exempt from the hosepipe restrictions, under the current temporary use ban, will no longer be able to use their hosepipe. If someone was not exempt but activities they were doing were covered by an exemption, this will also now end.

The water company has fast-tracked several key engineering projects to ensure water moves more easily across the network, take the pressure off existing supply sources, and transfer more water directly into Sussex, these include:

• Major engineering projects in progress to ease demand on Ardingly Reservoir and slow the rate at which its water levels are falling:
• Bringing a treatment facility back online: this will be manually run to produce an additional 1.4 million litres/day(Ml/d) of water.
• Connecting county networks: Having fast-tracked the construction of a new pipeline connecting treated water from Bewl in Kent to the East Sussex network, this system is now supplying the network and transferring 0.9 million litres/day (Ml/d). Moving water between counties in this way provides greater resilience and flexibility, and reduces the amount of water being drawn out of Ardingly Reservoir.
• Optimising network pressure in Sussex: The utility is actively controlling water pressure across Sussex to reduce water stress on the network.