Hosepipe ban to be introduced in Jersey

A hosepipe ban will be introduced in the island from Friday, Jersey Water has announced.

The company is asking islanders to "save water where they can".

From Friday people will not be able to use hosepipes or garden sprinklers. Commercial and business customers will be exempt.

The ban follows record high temperatures, which made it an "exceptionally dry summer".

Helier Smith, chief executive at Jersey Water, said the ban would last for four months or less.

"During the recent dry and hot weather the demand for water has been higher than normal, on the hottest days peaking at up to 24 million litres," he said.

"Although there have been some patchy showers over the last week, rainfall this year has been exceptionally low since January."

Jersey Water said reservoir levels were 10.5% lower than normal for the current time of year.

The Minister for the Environment, Deputy Jonathan Renouf, said the introduction of a restriction was "not surprising".

He said: "We need to think not only about water supply this summer but also next year, if we run down reserves too much in the next few weeks then our water supply will be highly vulnerable next year, particularly if we have a dry winter.

"I urge Islanders to accept this ban on hosepipes and do what they can beyond this to moderate their use of water."

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