The hosepipe ban across Pembrokeshire and parts of Carmarthenshire has been lifted after more than two months. The ban, officially known as a 'Temporary Use Ban' was put in place on August 19 for Dwr Cymru Welsh Water customers served by the Llys-y-Frân reservoir near Haverfordwest.
The ban has been lifted from October 25. Customers in the affected areas haven't been able to use their hosepipes for weeks following the driest summer on record since 1976.
Water levels across almost all of Welsh Water's 91 reservoirs in Wales fell during the hot weather and drought and the company had to treat a record-breaking amount of water every day - over one billion litres per day, compared to the usual 850 million. But although the ban is being lifted, Welsh Water has warned customers not to use more water than they need to. You can get more local news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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Ian Christie, managing director of water services, said: "We are pleased that we are able to lift the hosepipe ban for our customers served by Llys-y-Frân reservoir and we really do thank them for their full co-operation which really did help ensure we kept the water flowing to our customers there throughout the summer and protect key rivers in Pembrokeshire.
"While this is good news, we are not out of the woods yet. Our reservoirs are dependent on rain to refill over the autumn and winter. Over the past six months, Wales has had one of the longest and driest periods on record and in September only saw 50% of the long term average rainfall and our reservoir levels in some areas - particularly south east Wales - are far lower than they would normally be at this time of year. The forecast for a drier than average autumn, with only limited rain expected in the immediate future is a concern."
He added: "While we always ask customers not to waste water, we’re encouraging all customers to only use what they need over the autumn and winter to help ensure our reservoirs refill as quickly as possible and that there is sufficient water for all our customers next summer. We will also play our part by continuing to work as hard as possible on finding and fixing leaks as quick as we can and investing in the network to make it as efficient as possible."
The news follows confirmation earlier in October from Natural Resources Wales (which is separate from Welsh Water) that all of Wales was still in a drought. A NRW spokesperson highlighted that despite Wales receiving 99.5% of its expected monthly rainfall in September, this was as high as 133.1% in Pembrokeshire but as low as 68.9% in the Valleys and Vale of Glamorgan, showing how unevenly rainfall was distributed.
The hosepipe ban has now been lifted with immediate effect. Welsh Water advises that you can save water by taking shorter showers, fixing leaking taps, using the "small flush" on your toilet, fixing leaks in the toilet, turning off the tap while brushing your teeth, and waiting until you have a full load of washing before putting it in the machine.
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