Anglian Water announces new strategy to avoid hosepipe ban in Milton Keynes and beyond

Like a majority of the UK, a drought was declared in Milton Keynes on Friday (12 August) by the Environment Agency.

Anglian Water says it does not envisage any need for a ban.

While the biggest supplier in the UK, Thames Water, announced this morning (17 August), plans to introduce a ban.

A hosepipe ban will be enacted in Thames Water regions from 24 August.

Thames Water serves nearby parts of the Thames Valley, including Aylesbury.

Meanwhile, Anglian Water is hoping to construct two new reservoirs in Milton Keynes’ region.

Two projects one in Cambridge and one in Lincolnshire could supply water for at least 750,000 homes, the company believes.

Speaking on Friday, Anglian Water spokesman Ciaran Nelson said: “Today’s declaration of drought across the region we supply serves to underline the seriousness of the situation.

"But because of the investments we’ve made and the support of our customers, we still do not envisage needing a hosepipe ban in our region this summer.”

Ciaran said the company has spent hundreds of millions of pounds improving resilience over the last decade.

"Schemes like a new water treatment works for Lincoln, massive engineering schemes that mean we can move water all the way from Rutland to Milton Keynes, and the creation of additional back-up supplies for Norwich, have all helped,” he added.

Schemes like this mean we’ve been able to keep our reservoirs topped up to around 80 per cent, and to reduce the pressure on our underground aquifers. which are about average or just below for the time of year. Just five per cent of the water we use comes directly from rivers.

“The resilience we’ve created, combined with the best leakage record in the industry and 90 per cent of our customers having meters, means we’re able to manage drawn-out periods of intense hot weather.

"We can’t ‘make more water’, so we must do all we can to look after what we have.”

Most areas in the UK, including Milton Keynes experienced rainfall for the first time yesterday, after an extended national heatwave.