Can region's fountains flow during a hosepipe ban?

Bradford's Mirror Pool in the city centre is one of the fountains reducing operations

A number of city centre fountains will run at a reduced rate after Yorkshire Water announced a hosepipe ban, which came into effect on Friday.

The Sheaf Square water feature in Sheffield and Bradford's Mirror Pool are among the landmarks affected.

Under Yorkshire Water guidelines, you cannot fill or maintain an ornamental fountain or water feature with a hosepipe while restrictions are in place, but "council-run park splash areas are exempt".

Several councils confirmed they would not be refilling fountains, but would continue to operate water features that recycled water.

Sheffield

The fountains in Sheffield's Peace Gardens have been out of operation for some time already

The Sheaf Street fountains in Sheffield were already out of action for maintenance, and the city council confirmed they would not reopen until after the ban had lifted.

A spokesperson said this fountain lost the most water and so it would remain closed.

Barkers Pool fountains recycle nearly all the water used in the system and so they will remain in operation.

And at the Peace Gardens, fountains and cascades have a mixed system and so while some water is lost most is recirculated.

The council said: "The Peace Gardens fountains are used by children during the summer to play and are a much-loved feature of the city centre.

"The central fountain will be open during the school holidays and at weekends.

"The cascades will remain operational as normal as they recirculate all the water in the system."

Bradford

Bradford's Mirror Pool will be reduced during the ban

On Wednesday, Bradford Council announced changes to the operation of the Mirror Pool during the hosepipe ban.

A spokesperson explained the holding tank in the plant room of the Mirror Pool held 500,000 litres of water.

"Last time we had a hosepipe ban, we managed to operate by using this recycled water in the holding tank," they said.

"Unfortunately, the hosepipe ban is very early in the summer and because we want to keep our fountains running as long as possible, we are going to change our operational hours to allow people to still visit and play while saving water."

The arching jets outside One City Park will not run between 11:00 and 19:30 BST, nor will any of the three pools be filled.

The Bradford Blast in the centre of the Mirror Pool and the fountains around the edge will run at a reduced height and pressure.

From 19.30 until 03.00 BST, a night-time operation will continue with only the vertical jets on a low setting.

The spokesperson said: "There is currently approximately 205,000 litres of rainwater in two storage tanks which is sufficient for 10 to 12 weeks of maintenance."

Leeds

Leeds has very few city centre fountains, after the council decided to close water features in Millennium Square, City Square and Eastgate roundabout in 2013.

A spokesperson said: "The guidance we follow is that we cannot fill or maintain fountains and ornamental features with a hosepipe while the restrictions are in place."

But they said as the few remaining fountains had built-in reservoirs, there was no need to turn them off.

The water feature in Exhibition Square in York will continue to operate

York

City of York Council said it only managed one fountain in the city, which would continue to operate.

The water feature on Exhibition Square recycles and recirculates the same water and does not draw on water supplies aside from times when it is drained for maintenance purposes.

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