Yorkshire Water lifts hosepipe ban - Yorkshire still classified as within drought by the Environment Agency

Whilst Yorkshire is still classified as within drought by the Environment Agency, the water company has said that thanks to “everyone’s efforts to save water” and a wetter than average autumn, the temporary restrictions can now be lifted.

During the warm summer months, Yorkshire Water’s hosepipe ban helped to save an average of 28 million litres per day, which took pressure off its reservoirs and allowed them to hold as much water as possible.

Neil Dewis, director of water at Yorkshire Water, said: “We’re really grateful to our customers for their efforts to save water whilst the weather was drier than usual. Thanks to a number of emergency drought schemes, drought permits, increased leakage activity, rainfall, and everyone’s efforts to save water, reservoirs are now looking much healthier – with the average level across the region now at 75%.”

In September, Yorkshire Water enlisted Galliford Try to lay 2km of overland pipe across moorland to connect Walshaw Dean Upper reservoir in Calderdale with Ponden reservoir in the Worth Valley, in order to transfer water and balance stocks. The drought scheme helped the reservoir levels to increase from 20% to around 80%.

The water company also increased its leakage activity in reaction to the warm dry weather – hiring additional leakage technicians and introducing a seven-day working pattern helped the company to fix leaks twice as quickly.

Yorkshire Water is on track to reduce leakage by more than 9% this year, bringing it closer to its goal of 15% reduction by 2025.

Neil continued: “As we’ve seen this year, climate change is making weather patterns more extreme. We recently submitted our latest draft water resource management plan to the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs. The document predicts future water use, weather patterns, and sets out our action plan to reduce the likelihood of future restrictions and ensure we can continue to meet demand over the next 60 years. We’d welcome feedback from customers and other stakeholders on our draft plan, which can be viewed on our website.

“Whilst the hosepipe ban is no longer in place, it’s really important that we all continue to save water where we can.”