Yorkshire Water is urging customers to carefully consider their water usage in the coming days ahead of the forecasted hot and dry weather.
Given the temperatures expected through this week and over the weekend, Yorkshire Water is expecting water usage to increase by as much as 100 million litres of water per day, the equivalent of Hull’s daily water usage.
Following a dry week, reservoir levels dropped to 61.4%, from 62.3% the week before.
Dave Kaye, director of water at Yorkshire Water, said:
“The changeable weather over recent weeks and customers’ efforts to save water has helped reduce the decline of reservoir stocks, but over the last week stock dropped by 0.86%.
"With a warm and dry weather forecast for the remainder of the week and throughout the weekend, we’re urging customers to continue to think carefully about their water use and to encourage them to use water wisely.
“Simple things like watering the flowers and plants with a watering can instead of a hosepipe, allowing lawns to go brown and using a bucket and sponge to wash the car instead of a hosepipe, will all help to reduce water usage and protect resources into the summer months."
He added:
“The region is now officially in drought, indicating just how dry a start to the year it has been.
"We have short-, medium- and long-term plans to deal with a drought and lack of rainfall, which includes possible temporary usage bans if we do not experience significant rainfall in the region in the coming weeks and months.
“Since the start of the year, we’ve been closely monitoring rainfall levels, moving water around the region to areas that need it most and working 24/7 to find and fix leaks.”
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