Portsmouth Water is asking everyone to keep water for essential use only for the duration of the current heatwave.

The current heatwave we are experiencing has combined with the Covid restrictions and people taking ‘staycations’, to result in a record breaking demand for water this week.

This demand is putting strain on the system and threatens to leave some customers with low pressure or even without water as pipes reach capacity and cannot physically allow enough water through them fast enough for everyone’s use. So we are asking everyone to show some restraint and only to use water for essential purposes for the next few days, to ensure there is enough water to go around. We would ask people to put away their hosepipes and garden sprinklers and allow their grass to turn gold and their car to gather dust – for a couple of days, just until the heatwave has passed.

We are continuing to produce water 24/7 and our technicians are working around the clock to ensure houses and businesses have the essential water they need for cooking, cleaning and washing. With your help we can make sure everyone gets the water they need.

Bob Taylor, Portsmouth Water CEO commented

‘We are asking customers to restrict their use of water during the next few days of heatwave, in order to ensure that that all customers receive a reliable water supply. Demand over the weekend was the highest in over 10 years and we are encouraging people use water carefully to essential there is plenty for personal hygiene needs, something that so important to combat the spread of covid-19’.

As can be seen on the graph below demand is well above our average daily demand of 170 million litres a day (Mld). We are hoping with customer support we can get down to below 200 Mld by the end of the week, thereby easing the pressure on supplies.