The comment comes in a statement issued by Water UK, the body which represents all the UK water companies at national and EU level, in response to the publication yesterday of the latest Environment Agency drought status report.

Water UK said:

“Each local water company customer has become used to using around 150 litres of treated water every day. When added together with industrial needs and other requirements, it leads to a UK demand for water of around 17.5 billion litres every day.

With weather patterns continuing to prevent sustained rain from replacing the water resources in the areas that need it most, the requirement is simply not sustainable.”

Commenting on the upcoming hosepipe bans, the statement says that local water companies are "extremely conscious of the current economic pressures on their communities, and consult carefully to get the balance right."

Water UK said that all the water companies have well-established step-by-step plans and procedures to be followed should water become scarcer. At the first stage the plans mean:

• Increasing the weight of publicity campaigns;
• Assessing potential ways of enhancing resources to meet summer demand; and in some areas
• Putting restrictions on some activities that use large volumes of water.

  According to the utility body, response from customers to water efficiency messages has already been outstanding. Water UK sais that the industry was also continuing to play its part, including reducing the levels of leakage year by year and targeting their investment of customers’ money to repair priority bursts and replace old pipes.

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