Car washing and watering of sports grounds could be banned
London's water utility has applied for a drought order which will give it increased powers to restrict usage of water in the capital.
Thames had said three weeks ago that it had no plans to obtain the order but had been monitoring stocks on a day by day basis. It had been urged to apply for the order in London by the Environment Agency. Thames can now ban car washing, filling swimming pools and watering parks and sports grounds. It had already imposed a hosepipe ban on April 3rd. Sutton and East Surrey Water have already implemented a drought order, the first time this had been done in 11 years.
Thames had said that the order might not have been necessary because they were less reliant on groundwater. It is not known why recent heavy rainfall did not replenish reservoirs sufficiently.
Critics of the firm have blamed their failure to maintain their network of pipes adequately which has resulted in a high level of leakages and hence low water stocks. Recently Brentford High Street was flooded as a major water main burst in the area.
Roger Evans, London Assembly Conservative Environment Spokesman, said, "These water shortages have come about because of Thames Water's failure to repair leaks. Londoners should expect things to get worse if Ken Livingstone gets his way and planning permission for the new desalination plant at Beckton is rejected."
This year has been one of the driest in the last 80 years and the Environment Agency is warning of another hot dry summer which could mean the worst drought in a century.
June 9, 2006
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