Hosepipe ban finally lifted! (From Swindon Advertiser)

Hosepipe ban finally lifted!

9:56am Thursday 18th January 2007 in

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THAMES Water has today lifted a hosepipe ban that more than 250 people in Swindon were reported for breaching.

While the ban on hosepipes and sprinklers, which came into force in April last year, has stopped it is essential people still try to save water.

In total, 4,200 Thames Water customers were reported for breaching the ban, with 251 of them in Swindon.

At the same time precautionary water safety measures issued to residents in Fairford have also been lifted.

The decision to lift the ban follows four months of above-average rainfall from September to December.

Richard Aylard, external affairs and environment director at Thames Water, said: "The good news is that the recent wet weather has allowed us to fill our reservoirs.

"It has taken some time for the rain to seep down into underground aquifers that keep rivers and reservoirs topped up during the spring and the summer, but groundwater levels throughout the catchment are also rising and are expected to have generally recovered to at least near-normal levels by February."

Those who continued to use their hosepipes faced three warning letters before being taken to court with a possible £1,000 but nobody in Swindon received that punishment.

The ban caused outrage in the town as its introduction was followed by a string of burst water mains and leaks.

In July residents in Rodbourne were evacuated after sewage from a blocked pipe flooded their homes, while a burst water main in March Close, Abbey Meads in June rendered four families homeless after their houses were flooded by two feet of water.

In September a burst water main in Whitbourne Avenue, Park North left a crater in the road that trapped a motorist.

Mr Aylard said: "We regretted having to impose the ban, our first in 15 years, but given the severity of the drought, a cautious approach was needed to keep taps flowing without harming the environment by taking extra water from rivers.

"Our customers responded very positively to our appeals to use water wisely.

"Demand fell by as much as 10 per cent, even at the peak of the heatwave in July."

The company is working on replacing more than 1,100 miles of the cast iron Victorian pipes with more flexible plastic ones by 2010 which is expected to save more than 140m litres a day.

Thames Water has sent letters to 2,000 homes in the Fairford area asking people to boil water for drinking or cooking after complaints of discolouration in supplies.

The precaution was put in place after customers reported that their tap water was discoloured. The company believes heavy rainfall washed silt into the well that feeds the local water treatment works.

Tests confirmed the water was always fit to drink, despite the cloudiness, and customers will receive notices telling them normal services have been resumed.