Water companies are warning of an "unprecedented peak demand" due to the scorching heat wave across the country.
The public are being encouraged by Water UK, the trade association representing water firms, to "carefully consider" their water usage so as not to waste it. Water demand is at its "most intense demand" across the south of England but that "pretty much all companies are seeing elevated demand at the moment."
A Water UK spokesperson said: "Water companies are seeing unprecedented peak demand for water during this extreme hot weather event. We are urging everyone to carefully consider the amount of water they are using at this time.
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“All water companies have been contacting their customers directly with information and advice to help them reduce their water usage.
Meanwhile, Southern Water said that on an average day it supplies around 540 million litres to its 2.6 million water customers - but that the peaks so far has been 657 million litres.
Andrew Tucker, water demand reduction manager for Thames Water, said the heatwave has risen demands "at near record level". Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, he said: “We’re doing pretty well.
“We know exactly how much water we’ve got in the system, and that’s both in our rivers, the aquifers underground or groundwater aquifers, but also how much we have in our reservoirs. We balance that with how much demand we’re seeing from homes and businesses but at the moment that demand is at near record level, as we were expecting.”
He added: “We’re not expecting to need to introduce restrictions on water at the moment. But we know how much water we’ve got, and with people using more at the moment, we are getting through it faster than we would like.
“If we don’t receive rainfall in the coming months that situation may change but we’re staying on top of it every single day.”
He went on to say: “Once we fall back into a normal routine and we understand what customers are doing in homes and businesses just as a normal weather situation, we’ll be in a better position to say how we’re going to stand for the rest of the rest of the year.
“But we would certainly like rainfall but it’s those little things that people do in the backyards at the moment, those back gardens that really make a difference. So our call is basically ‘stay hydrated, look after your health, but please use water very very carefully and don’t waste it’.”
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