Welsh Water has issued a statement about the risk of hosepipe bans being imposed elsewhere in Wales. People have been concerned by the sight of dried up reservoirs across the nation. A ban has already been announced for Pembrokeshire and Camarthenshire from August 19.
The photograph above was taken at the Beacons Reservoir near Merthyr Tydfil on Thursday, August 5. Images shows huge banks of the reservoir are exposed by the receding water levels.
However, despite the worrying images, Welsh Water has said that at the moment it believes that water resources across the rest of the nation are in a good position.
READ MORE: Drone images show how much Wales' reservoirs have dried up this year
The spokesperson said: “Water resources across the majority of Wales are in a reasonably good position despite the exceptionally dry periods we have experienced and the recent record high temperatures. We did have a concern about the situation in Pembrokeshire which is why we needed to take steps and announce a temporary use ban from 19th August.
“We remind all of our three million customers to avoid wasting water and have simple handy water efficiency advice on our website."
The water company explained in more detail why it had introduced the ban in Pembrokeshire and parts of Carmarthenshire. It said the move was necessary to ensure that water supplies can be maintained through the summer and into the autumn. Teservoirs in the Pembrokeshire area are approaching drought levels, due to record temperatures and an increased demand for water.
The Met Office say Wales saw the driest July since 2006, with 52mm of average rainfall and only 53% of the rain that would be expected in that month.
WalesOnline asked Dŵr Cymru what the requirements are for a hosepipe ban to be introduced and how they make such a decision. It said that all water companies need to have a ‘drought plan’ in case they meet the very dry weather that we are currently experiencing.
A draught plan defines how a water company:
Prepares for drought.
Monitors the situation so that it knows that we are entering a drought period.
Uses trigger points for taking action as dry weather continues to impact water supply and the demand for water.
Makes decisions within the company during a drought.
Decides what operational actions it will take to ensure that it makes best use of the water resources that are available.
Decides how it will manage the demand for water from our customers.
Decides how it will communicate with our customers to help manage the demand for water.
A spokesperson for Dŵr Cymru said: “Our decisions to ask customers to be careful with their water use or to impose temporary use bans in Pembrokeshire are based on or water resource (reservoir) stocks being lower than they would normally. This is because we have had less rainfall entering our reservoirs than normal and the demand for water has been higher.
“We check that our drought plan is working by using detailed water supply system models. These forecast how much water will be available to make sure that we will always have enough water even during the most severe droughts.”
A hosepipe ban will come into force for customers in Pembrokeshire from 8am on Friday, August 19. This means customers will not be able to use a hosepipe to water plants, filling paddling pools for the children or hot tubs.
A spokesperson from Dŵr Cymru informed WalesOnline why this is necessary: “In Pembrokeshire, a continuation of the hot, dry weather seen to date will mean both our reservoir levels and the flows in the rivers will continue to decline. This puts pressure upon longer term availability of water for public supply and on the ecology that inhabits the rivers. For context, if it continues to remain dry then we are on course to see lower river flows than those of 1976.”
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