Thames Water urges customers to save supplies amid heatwave

Thames Water is urging customers to conserve supplies - swapping the hose for a watering can is one way of saving water

Thames Water has resisted calls to issue a hosepipe ban but is urging its 15 million customers to conserve supplies as the country enters another heatwave amid the prolonged dry summer.

While other firms have issued bans, Thames Water said it instead wanted people to "use water wisely".

The company said it had a statutory drought plan in place to cope with falling reservoir levels.

But it said restrictions may be needed in the future.

In a statement issued on Monday, as temperatures across the south continued to soar and with no sign of the dry spell breaking, the company said demand was at its highest for more than 25 years.

"At times the demand can outstrip our capacity to treat water and hence we have been promoting the need to use water wisely to ensure we can maintain supplies for all," Thames Water said.

The Thames Water area will not be included in any hosepipe ban yet

"Our reservoirs have fallen below average for this time of year. This is due to the fact that nine out of the last 11 months have been drier than average with underground aquifers and flows in the rivers, which we rely on for water, also lower than expected for this time of year."

It also cited low levels of rainfall last winter and spring and said the Met Office confirmed that July had been the driest since 1935.

"If we do not receive around or above average rainfall in the coming months this will increase pressure on our resources and may indeed result in the need for more water-saving measures including restrictions."

The company issued advice to customers:

• Swap your hose for a watering can

• Do not water when the sun is out

• Take shorter showers - on average a shower uses 10 litres of water a minute

• Turn off the taps while you brush your teeth

• Fix leaky loos and dripping taps