Hosepipe ban from midnight, Friday, 10 July 2026

" Prolonged dry conditions have had a significant impact on the River Test, which supplies most of the water to homes and businesses across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. River levels are now critically low, around 25% below normal for this time of year, and have fallen by a third in just one month. With little meaningful rainfall forecast, we must act now to protect this vital habitat and ensure a reliable supply of water for our communities.

We're working around the clock to protect our precious chalk streams and keep our customer taps flowing. Since January, we've found and fixed 2,840 leaks across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, saving around 27 million litres of water every day and achieving our best-ever leakage performance, with leaks reduced by a third.

Alongside using smart technology, drones and specially trained dogs to find leaks faster, we're investing heavily in restoring and enhancing the River Test and River Itchen through major habitat improvement projects and support for species such as Atlantic salmon.

At the same time, we're investing billions in long-term water resilience projects, including the UK's first new reservoir in 30 years, new water transfer pipelines and innovative water recycling schemes, which together will help reduce pressure on our chalk streams and enable us to stop taking water from these rivers by 2040.

While these measures are vital to preventing future droughts, right now we need help from our customers to reduce demand.We’re asking customers to stop using hosepipes for activities such as watering gardens, filling paddling pools or washing cars. They can help us most by starting now, and restrictions will be enforceable from 10 July.

We are incredibly grateful for the efforts customers made last year to reduce water use during similar restrictions. Those actions made a real difference and helped reduce demand by 5% on local rivers. We know that, together, we can have that same positive impact again."

Further information, including full details of the restrictions, exemptions, FAQs and practical water-saving tips, is available on our website at www.southernwater.co.uk/hosepipeban.