Portsmouth Water urge people to conserve water as there is little to spare despite not imposing hosepipe ban

Portsmouth Water have issued the call after heatwaves have reduced the levels of rain fall.

The utility firm has not imposed a hosepipe ban as their drought plans have not reached stage two, meaning they do not have the legal powers to do so.

A spokeswoman said: ‘We have been consulting department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency regularly about the status of our water resources.

‘We have been consulting Defra and the Environment Agency regularly about the status of our water resources.

‘We do not anticipate reaching stage two of the plan where we have to introduce restrictions unless the dry weather continues significantly into Autumn/Winter.’

Despite this decision, the company has said there is not a lot of room for leeway due to heatwaves and ‘unseasonably hot and dry’ conditions.

‘However, this does not mean we have water to spare,’ the spokeswoman added.

‘Whist we don’t expect the need for a formal hosepipe ban to be put in place, we do need to continue to ensure we use water wisely as a business – and we continue to urge our customers to do the same.’

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The company have taken one of their water pumps out of public supply, using it to supplement the River Ems.

This will mean over two million litres of water will fill the river once a trigger flow is reached – where water drops below a certain level.

Portsmouth Water is making long term plans to preserve water amid climate change and a growing population.