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Thames Water will lift its hosepipe ban at midnight tonight
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Thames Water hosepipe ban ends tonight

June 13, 2012

Thames Water will lift its hosepipe ban at midnight tonight after record rainfall eased the pressure of the water shortage across the region.

The Reading-based utility company which serves 8.8 million people in London and the Thames Valley thanked customers for complying with the the restriction which has helped save more than 100 million litres a day during the hot spell in May.

But with the possibility of a third dry winter in a row this year the firm has urged customers to continue to use water wisely and to encourage the use of a range of free water-saving devices available via its website.

Hosepipe bans were imposed on April 5 by Thames Water and six other firms following the driest two-year period on record.

For more information on ways to to save water visit www.thameswater.co.uk

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Why do they have to wait till midnight ? Can't they just say hosepipes can be used from now on and be done with it ?

Professor Warwicks Robot
15/06/2012 at 15:52

@Fishlips

The example you gave appears to be one the few where there really wasn't anything they could have done about it.

Vestan Pance
14/06/2012 at 12:58

418K... how much does a reservoirs cost these days?

https://www.facebook.com/PenaliseWaterCompaniesForDroughtOrdersInTheUk

Jogon, Wokingham
14/06/2012 at 08:02

Heard them say consumption of water is down 4%. However since the majority of properties are based on rates, they have made the same money supplying less water. Something wrong there, but let's admit, the set up for TW is a licence to print money anyway.

Bingley, Woodley
13/06/2012 at 22:12

Tonk Sorry to disappoint you but it takes a lot longer than a few weeks for water to .purculate down to the aquifer levels at this time off year . Most rain fall runs straight off into rivers and ditches and out to sea and whats left is absorbed by trees and plants

A. XYZ
13/06/2012 at 16:45

better get the snow ploughs out boys and girls.. If the summer is anything to judge the "drought" we didnt have.. then we might aswell ;)

Mother Superior, Reading
13/06/2012 at 16:17

i didn't notice the Drought had ended? have we had any rain recently ??? Sadly my water is supplied by South East Water and despite the fact that all our road drains have been overflowing, and despite most of my garden being under 4" of water .... I can't use my hosepipe .... words truly fail me!

Tom Edwards, Bracknell
13/06/2012 at 15:29

Sadly, my water is provided by South East Water and they're keeping their ban in place.

Interestingly, as a disabled person with a blue badge, I am exempt from the restrictions; something they don't publicise. However, I must register my self with SEW in case my neighbours or passers by grass me out. In order to register to get the exemption I'm entitled to anyway, I must provide a mass of information for their database which they will then share with different people.....Don't modern corporate identities just love data gathering exercises. Needless to say, I have not played their game because this is the wettest drought I've ever known and I need not water my garden etc.

SEW state that the underground supplies are low.....This may be true however, if they then check them again in a couple of weeks, once all the water has soaked in, I am sure the levels will be fine again.

Although I have always been a Conservative by nature (not Cameron's version) I do feel the privatisation of the water industry was a huge mistake and will continue to cost us all dear.

Tonk, Wokingham
13/06/2012 at 14:32

In keeping with the same logic RBC have got the gritter trucks on standby for the next time we have a drought/heatwave

Hugh J, Reading
13/06/2012 at 14:24

End of hosepipe ban? Hooray - We can have the same facilities as those hotter countries, Spain, Greece, Turkey ............

The Realist
13/06/2012 at 12:43

I'm going to celebrate by washing my car - with a hosepipe - tomorrow. I've forgotten what colour it is.

John, Caversham
13/06/2012 at 12:43

The weather is much better already. Those drought conditions were horrible.

JonathanB
13/06/2012 at 12:13

Also, there was a massive water leak at Thames Valley Park about 2 weeks ago.

It was the main pipe into the park and Thames Water couldnt turn it off becuase it also supplied a fire safety device on the railway track. So the leak was gushing out of the floor like a fountain all day until the last train of the day had gone past (about 4am!!!)

Thousands of gallons of water must have been lost!! One of the carparks was completely flooded with cars stranded etc.

Be nice if GetReading could do some digging on that one too!!

Fishlips
13/06/2012 at 11:23

I was thinking the same Dodger, poor fella...

Bruce Wayne
13/06/2012 at 11:02

I hope this doesn't affect the 418K 'bonus' awarded to it's chief executive

dodger, south oxfordshire

The news of that released yesterday could be the reason the ban has been lifted.

On a related note, why didn't Getreading report that story?