Following our report yesterday that three water companies had lifted their hosepipe bans, Thames Water have now stated that their ban is over too. A spokesperson from Thames Water said:
“The good news is that the recent wet weather has allowed us to fill our reservoirs. It has taken some time for the rain to seep down into underground aquifers that keep rivers and reservoirs topped up during the spring and the summer, but groundwater levels throughout the catchment area are also rising and are expected to have generally recovered to at least near normal levels by February. This all means that keeping the hosepipe ban in place is no longer justified. We regretted having to impose the ban, our first in 15 years, but given the severity of the drought, a cautious approach was needed to keep taps flowing without harming the environment by taking extra water from rivers.”