Urgent plea sent to Severn Trent customers after 'highest water demand in one day'

Severn Trent have issued an urgent plea to customers after seeing the ‘highest demand’ for water in a single day.

The water supplier for Shropshire, Staffordshire and parts of the West Midlands, including Wolverhampton, have urged residents to use less water in their gardens to help avoid hosepipe bans.

The message, which was sent to customers today (July 12) read: “Hi, it's Severn Trent. We've seen the highest water demand ever recorded in a single day.

“The hot, dry weather means we're all using more water than usual. We're fixing leaks, treating more clean water and moving water around the region, but we need your help too.

“Please use less water especially in the garden to help avoid restrictions. Thank you.”

It comes after announcements that a fresh hosepipe ban will come into force next week for millions of people across south-east England as the country’s third heatwave in three months puts water resources under pressure.

In Shropshire, no restrictions will be put into force, but Severn Trent Water (STW) are encouraging customers to be “mindful” of water use.

A spokesperson for the company said: “In one day alone this week, an extra 203 million litres of water was used, and on average, people are using an extra 44 litres of water each day.

“Water is being used for longer and the usual ‘evening peak’ that finishes at 9pm is now stretching through until 1am each day, so high usage is over longer periods of time.

“We understand people want to care for their gardens, but grass will bounce back once the rain returns.

“There are no restrictions in place in the Severn Trent region and we want to reassure everyone that we’re working round the clock, producing hundreds of millions of extra water each day, and because of the heatwave and the extra water that’s being used, we’d really appreciate your support to keep water flowing this summer.”

While temperatures are set ease slightly from Friday’s peak, many parts of England are expected to remain above 30C over the weekend and into next week.