As the UK experiences a record-breaking summer for its heatwaves and lack of rainfall, over 20 million people across the country are currently living under hosepipe bans.
Yet while violating the restrictions comes with a potential penalty of £1,000, there are a number of at times, odd exemptions listed by water companies that allow the continued use of hosepipes for certain purposes.
Most water companies have similar rules which mean those living with medical or mobility problems are universally exempt. Businesses can also use hosepipes during the ban, as long as it is for commercial purposes only.
But there are the more unusual loopholes that may allow some to get around the ban.
Seven surprising exemptions
Thames Water and Essex & Suffolk Water allow exemptions for cleaning a private boat if needed for health and safety purposes, or to “clean a leisure boat which has an enclosed space”. Anglian water also allows an exemption for “cleaning the inside of the boat”.
Thames Water, the country’s largest utility provider with 16 million customers, says you can clean windows, outsides walls, paths, patios or outdoor surfaces if it’s needed for health and safety purposes or to prevent the spread of disease.
Hosepipes can also be used to protect the welfare of animals, including to take care of pets, livestock and fish.
Water companies allow exemptions for newly built private swimming pools, if the water is used while it is being constructed, and water can be used to fill a swimming or paddling pool if done by a handheld container.
This aerial image shows All Saints Church surrounded by the scorched grass on Blackheath as the drought continues(Photo by Justin TALLIS / AFP via Getty Images)Hosepipes can additionally be used in gardens or private allotments where food crops are being grown and “a watering can isn’t a practical option”.
Newly laid turf or recently sown grass seed also earns an exemption if watering cans are not available.
Another exemption allows hosepipes to be used for watering sports pitches and playing surfaces.
Some schools in London, including St Paul’s School and Dulwich College, have used this loophole to keep their playing fields watered despite both schools being currently closed for the summer holidays.
Erica Popplwell, head of public affairs at River Action, told The i Paper: “These exemptions expose how inconsistent hosepipe bans have become.
“It makes no sense for households to be told not to water their gardens while golf courses, private schools and other non-essential users are allowed to carry on.”
Faulty pipes wasting water
Water companies reported increased demand during the record-breaking heatwaves this summer, contributing to the need for hosepipe bans.
However, recent research by Greenpeace UK has revealed that companies are wasting five times more water due to leaking pipes than could be saved by a nationwide hosepipe ban.
The analysis showed that 2.87 billion litres a day are wasted from leaky pipes across England and Wales, which is a fifth of all water pumped through the network.
In contrast, a nationwide hosepipe ban would save just an estimated 4 per cent of the water distributed or 557 million litres per day.
Popplwell said: “River Action’s recent investigation found commercial operators hold licences to abstract more than 43 trillion litres of water a year. At the same time, water companies lose almost two billion litres of treated drinking water every day through leaks. The public shouldn’t be asked to shoulder the burden while waste on this scale continues. It’s time to review non-essential abstraction licences and tackle leakage alongside protecting our rivers.”
Dr Doug Parr, Chief Scientist for Greenpeace UK, said: “Of course people should use water carefully during prolonged hot and dry weather. But it’s galling to be told to put away the hose while water companies are losing nearly three billion litres every day through leaks.”
He branded UK water companies a “national humiliation” and added that UK water infrastructure “urgently needs fixing and strengthening”.
Half the country in drought
On Wednesday, the Environment Agency declared that over half of England is now under drought.
The full list of English regions in drought conditions are: East Anglia, Hertfordshire and London, Thames Valley, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Devon and Cornwall, the West Midlands, and Wessex.
Although there is not one single definition of drought, it tends to refer to a period of prolonged unusually dry weather that has an impact on people, nature and the environment.
Caption: General view of Swithland Reservoir in Leicestershire which is currently at less than 44% capacity according to Severn Trent. Photo credit should read: Joe Giddens/PA WireThe announcement means there have now been three droughts in the past five years, in 2022, 2025 and 2026.
Nearly half of England’s reservoirs are at lower than normal water levels following four consecutive heatwaves.
In June, reservoir stocks decreased by nearly three quarters, according to the Environment Agency, with England ending the month with water storage at 75 per cent.
In July, there was just 7 per cent of the average levels of rainfall in England, with southern England seeing just 1 per cent.
This comes as the UK has been put at risk of a “firewave,” as the drought conditions have made a prolonged period of wildfire activity more likely.
A wildfire in an area of protected heathland that is the size of 140 football pitches resulted in the emergency evacuation of at least 60 people in Suffolk on Thursday.
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