Affinity Water is one of several water firms warning its customers to cut down on water usage as the recent heatwave places a strain on the UK’s reservoir network
The UK’s largest water provider has issued a major heatwave warning as already sweltering temperatures look set to climb into the stratosphere this weekend.
The last few days have seen Brits hit with sweltering heat blasts reaching well above the average for the time of year, with the southeast blasted with 31C on Thursday and a blistering 32C expected in the area on Saturday. The rest of the nation will see similar but not quite as unbearable extremes between 18C and 28C, with no sign of rain until the following week. The UK’s largest water provider has warned its customers about the prolonged heat, with millions of people having now received an urgent notice.
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Affinity Water recently sent its roughly 3.6 million customers a message telling them to help “make a real difference” over the coming days of the heatwave.
The note, sent via email, asks customers to cut back on their water consumption, and to only run the tap for “essentials” as the heat puts a “real strain on the network”. It states: “To make sure we can keep water flowing to you and your community, we’re asking our customers to make a real difference over the next few days.
“Please cut back where you can – delay or stop non-essential use and make every drop count. Please only use water for essentials like drinking, cooking and washing. The increase in water usage is putting a real strain on our network.”
Affinity Water supplies water primarily across the southeast to approximately 1.4 million homes and 78,000 “non-household connections”. Regions under its supply chain include Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Surrey, and several London boroughs, including Harrow, Hillingdon, and parts of Barnet, Brent, Ealing, and Enfield.
The network added in the email that residents of these areas are currently using water at an unsustainable rate that is “faster than we can pump it and store it”.
If usage stays high, the email adds, it could lead to a “no water situation”. The note states: “That means your area could see lower water pressure or a no water situation if usage stays high.” Affinity is far from the only water supply firm that has issued a warning to its customers, with the hot weather placing a strain on several other suppliers.
United Utilities’ north west water board has asked customers to save water where they can, with reservoirs in the north of England dropping more than 20 percent below average.
Anglian Water has followed suit, telling customers to “use a little less”. The company serves millions of customers across Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes, Norfolk, Lincolnshire and parts of Cambridgeshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Suffolk and Essex.