Colchester won't see hosepipe ban despite drought

The two main water companies in Colchester and Tendring, Anglian Water and Affinity Water, have not imposed a hosepipe ban in the area for more than 20 years.

And while no ban is imminent, officials confirmed they were closely monitoring water supplies following a sparse amount of rainfall in recent months.

The previous driest year on record for East Anglia was more than 100 years ago, in 1921.

But this year rainfall across England last month was 25 per cent of what is expected for an average July.

The level of rainfall within the first six months of this year was the lowest since the drought of 1976, and the 12th lowest in the 122 years since 1900.

Should the dry spell continue into the autumn and winter months, it would see water levels in reservoirs drop further still, with the main nine water companies in England coming under pressure after it was revealed that, combined, they leak a quarter of their water supply every single day.

Although Affinity Water, which runs the water supply for most of Tendring, has reduced its water leakage by an average of 10.5 per cent over the past three years, it was still found to be leaking nine cubic metres of water each day according to data from Discover Water.

Only Thames Water was leaking more water each day, according to the statistics.

Anglian Water, meanwhile, had more positive statistics surpassing its targets to reduce water losses whilst leaking less than half the UK average on a daily basis.

A spokesman for the company said: “To have achieved such an ambitious target is a remarkable result, given the challenging operational context and supply chain issues that have impacted the water sector.”

On the potential of dry months ahead, he said: “Although one dry winter doesn’t give us cause for concern now, we also need to make sure we conserve enough water for tomorrow, next month and next summer too.”