Water supply and drought update
A hosepipe ban is in place
This year, the UK experienced one of its warmest and driest springs in over a century. June was also England’s warmest on record. The Environment Agency has put our area into the prolonged dry weather category.
To help protect our rivers and to make sure there's enough water to go around, we need to bring in a hosepipe ban.
The hosepipe ban is in place for Thames Water customers in the following postcodes:
- OX
- GL
- SN
- RG4 (not RG40, 41, 42 or 45)
- RG8 and RG9
Why only some postcodes are impacted
Supplies are more stretched in some areas than others. Farmoor Reservoir supplies water to these postcodes. Water levels are starting to drop. Local rivers and underground sources are also running low. By bringing in a hosepipe ban, we can all work together to keep taps running for essential use.
We may need to add postcodes to the hosepipe ban. We’ll keep you updated if anything changes. We really appreciate your help to make every drop count.
Legal notice of the hosepipe ban
The full terms and conditions of the restrictions.
Get in touch
Use our contact form to leave any comments you have about the hosepipe ban.
What we're doing
We’re playing our part to reduce leakage across our network by fixing 650 leaks every week. We’re also targeting hot spot areas and rolling out smart meters. This will help us locate leaks in customers’ pipes.
Currently, we’ve installed over one million smart meters. They are critical in helping us to locate leaks at our customers' homes. We’ll continue to roll out smart water meters to households in our area.
We’re planning on installing or upgrading a further c.1,200,000 smart meters to homes and businesses by 2030. We’ve installed almost 40,000 acoustic loggers on our water network. They help detect leaks and expect to have 100,000 in place by mid-2027.
To fix leaks faster, we’ve increased the leakage teams in our region. We'll also be replacing 500km of water mains over the next five years to reduce leakage.
Where our water comes from
Most of our water comes from local rivers and underground sources. Because we live in a water-scarce region, we monitor these carefully.
What you can do to help
From turning off the tap while brushing your teeth to using a watering can instead of a hose. Even small changes can make a difference.