Having urged both residents and tourists on the Isle of Wight to use water wisely and not waste it, Southern Water has updated news: ‘Rain Continues To Boost Water Resources’.
In earlier news for the Island: Water use is expected to increase by a third over the spring and will continue to rise during the summer holidays when visitors flock to the Island.
The South East is experiencing the second driest period on record and water resources, such as reservoirs, rivers and underground aquifers, are well below where they should be at this time of year.
Water Quality and Strategy Manager Meyrick Gough said: “Although the situation on the Isle of Wight is not as severe as other parts of the region, resources are below where they should be.
“There is no hosepipe ban currently in place on the Island and we hope to avoid bringing in any restrictions. But, if the demand for water rises as the weather gets hotter we may have to take such measures.
“We are urging all our customers to avoid wasting water around the home and particularly in the garden. Normally garden watering uses about six per cent of the water supplied, but on hot days this can soar to around 70 per cent.
“Garden sprinklers, in particular, can use up to 1,000 litres of water an hour, enough to supply six people for a whole day.”
The Island’s natural water supply comes mainly from underground sources. Two cross-Solent water mains supplement this, transferring up to 15 million litres of water each day from the mainland to the Isle of Wight.
Rain Continues To Boost Water Resources
The wet weather is continuing to give water sources in the south a much-needed boost, helping the region recover from one of the driest periods on record.
April was one of the wettest on record and the South East received 255 per cent of the long term average rainfall helping to re-fill rivers and reservoirs
The downpours have continued in May, refilling water butts and watering gardens, meaning less pressure on the public water supply as demand on the system dropped by three per cent.
Natural underground sources, which account for the majority of water resources in the southern region, are benefiting from the rain but it will still take a wet winter for them to recover fully.
Water Quality and Strategy Manager, Meyrick Gough, said: “The continued rain this month is good news for the region’s water resources. We’re moving in the right direction but our main sources still have to recover from one of the driest periods of weather on record. To help them do this we will be continuing with our water restrictions on hosepipes and sprinklers in Kent and Sussex. We continue to monitor the situation and will keep customers updated.
“I would like to thank customers, including those in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, for their help so far and urge everyone to continue to help us by not wasting water.”
Some 33,729 visits were made to the company’s online water efficiency section in April, a 223 per cent increase from February, and sales of discounted water saving products offered to customers have increased eight-fold.
Meanwhile, Southern Water continues to manage resources carefully including:
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Moving water around its area
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An ongoing leak reduction programme, which has resulted in the company recording its second lowest leakage level and the lowest of all the water and sewerage companies. Between 2010 and 2013, we are spending £55.5 million to further reduce leakage and we have beaten our 2011/12 target set by regulator Ofwat.
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A mains replacement programme to replace 256km of water mains before 2015. This work will reduce the risk of burst pipes and leaks.
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A five-year metering programme which will see 500,000 new water meters, equipped with leak alarms, installed for the majority of our customers in the South East by 2015. The leak alarms are expected to save up to five million litres of water per day. To date, more than 150,000 meters have been installed across Hampshire, Sussex and Kent under the programme.
For more information, go to www.southernwater.co.uk/drought website link.
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