Every drop counts – water saving tips from Thames Water after driest spring in a century
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- After the UK’s driest spring in over a century, Thames Water is asking its customers to take on board water saving tips
- The South East of England has less annual average rainfall than Sydney, Rome and Lisbon.
- 1 in 20 households has a leaky loo which wastes on average 200-400 litres a day, whilst research showed 42% of Thames Water customers surveyed leave the tap on while they brush their teeth.
After the UK’s driest spring in over a century, Thames Water is reminding its customers of some water saving tips which will help preserve water supply during the continued warm, dry weather, save money on bills and help the environment.
Thames Water’s free water saving calculator on its website can help households work out how much water and energy they are using and receive tailored advice on how to save more.
David Haydon, Head of Water Transformation at Thames Water, said:
“The UK has had one of the warmest and driest springs in over a century and the continued hot weather through summer brings with it a heightened concern of drought.
“We continue to monitor our water resources carefully and while we are currently not putting in place a hosepipe ban it is important that we all play our part to use water wisely.
“The extended warm weather also brings increased risks of leaks and bursts due to pipe stress and shifting foundations in the ground. We are working to ensure that our leakage engineers are placed where leaks are most likely to occur and our teams are working day and night to find and these fix leaks using innovative technology.
“There are many ways customers can save water during the summer. Some of our top tips include taking shorter showers, turning the tap off while brushing teeth and letting your lawn go dry.”
Top tips from Thames Water on reducing water usage:
Take shorter showers
Thames Water’s new research showed the average person spends about eight minutes in the shower, when asked by the survey1. Shaving two minutes off your shower time can save £73 on water and energy bills a year and around 20 litres of water per person every day. 20 litres is enough to fill two buckets.
Turn off the taps
Over a third (42%1) of people are still saying they keep the tap running whilst they brush their teeth. A running basin tap can use six litres of water a minute and by turning off the tap even ten seconds sooner, you can save over half a litre.
Fix leaky loos
From a trickle, ripple or full flow, leaky loos on average waste 200-400 litres a day. That’s around a family’s total daily water use. It can add hundreds to your yearly bill if not fixed.
Reduce your washes
Doing two fewer weekly washes can save you £46 on your water and energy bills.
Thames Water is the UK's largest water and wastewater services company, serving 16 million customers across London and the Thames Valley.
1.The research was conducted by Opinion Matters, among a sample of 2,000 (18+) adults in London, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Wiltshire (Thames Valley Region) who are renting / bought a ho. The data was collected between 09.05.2025-14.05.2025. Opinion Matters abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society and follows the MRS code of conduct and ESOMAR principles. Opinion Matters is also a member of the British Polling Council.