
Where hosepipe ban for millions comes into place today
Southern Water has introduced the ban across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, which comes into effect at 9 am today.
Residents won't be able to use a hosepipe to do activities like watering the garden, washing their car, or filling a paddling pool.
The company's managing director, Tim McMahon, said: 'Only by working together can we make sure there's enough water to go around for customers and the environment.'
A spokesperson for Southern Water added: 'The Environment Agency has declared the Solent and South Downs in 'prolonged dry weather'.
'We need to work together to protect precious chalk streams and keep taps flowing.'
The firm said it will remove the hosepipe ban 'as soon as we can', but this can only happen once its reservoirs, rivers and underground aquifers have refilled enough to meet demand.
Customers in the affected areas could face a £1,000 fine if they're caught using their hosepipe unnecessarily – but Southern Water said they will 'always' remind people about restrictions before taking any action.
But hosepipe bans bring to light the number of leaks in Britain's fragile water infrastructure, which cost customers £396million every year.
Many customers feel angry that they are asked to stop watering their garden or washing their car, when 19% of treated water is lost to leaks before it even comes out of the tap.
Southern Water has already placed a disclaimer on its website telling customers they will not receive a discount on their bills during the hosepipe ban period, saying the restrictions are in place to 'help to protect local rivers and keep taps flowing this summer'.
The firm is one of several ordered last year to repay a total of £157million to customers after missing key targets on reducing pollution, leaks and supply interruptions.
More than 3billion litres of water were wasted every day in England and Wales between 2020 and 2023 due to leaky pipes, amounting to 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools a day.
But Mr McMahon says his team is 'working 24/7' to find and fix leaks.
He added: 'We're using a wide range of innovative solutions like drones, sensors and even sniffer dogs, and are ensuring that our pipes, reservoirs and water supply works are working as efficiently as possible – but sadly this is not enough.'
Thames Water announced a hosepipe ban on Monday while bans were announced by South West Water and Yorkshire Water earlier this week.
Millions more people across England will soon face hosepipe bans that come into force later this week or early next week.
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Reservoirs are drying up thanks to a long period of dry and hot weather, with the UK experiencing three heatwaves practically back-to-back after the hottest June on record.
Rain is forecast across the UK later this week, but this will only do so much to refill our reservoirs.
In Yorkshire, for example, reservoirs are only 53.8% full, far lower than the 80.9% average for this time of year. More Trending
Droughts have been declared so far in Cumbria and Lancashire, Yorkshire, the East and West Midlands, and Greater Manchester, Chester and Merseyside.
Plus the Environment Agency says much of the rest of England is experiencing 'prolonged dry weather', with only East Anglia, London, Kent and Cornwall experiencing normal rainfall levels recently.
Droughts are declared based on reservoir levels, river flows, and how dry the soil is – and back in May, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology warned many of the UK's rivers had hit exceptionally low levels.
This has an impact on agriculture, as farmers have had to start watering their crops earlier rather than being able to rely on rainfall.
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To argue otherwise is bogus'. The former CEO of one of the largest institutional investors in the US, Theresa Whitmarsh, says she was told by one private equity founder that the industry is 'a zero-sum game, a blood sport'. This is because growing a business is much harder than squeezing one. If you don't plan on holding on to a company for the long term, making money can be devilishly simple. First, identify an undervalued business, one that may have struggled but has hard assets that could be flogged on. Then take out loans of up to 80 or 90 per cent of the value of the target company's assets. Crucially, load the target company with that debt and make them pay the cost of their own acquisition. Next, send in your partners, who will either try to juice the company's income or slash spending, all while charging fees for these services. Within the first two years of a public-to-private equity takeover, around 13 per cent of the workforce tends to be laid off. Expert negotiators are brought in to bid down suppliers and assets are sold. There is a laser-like focus on shifting the balance sheet: spend less, earn more, cash in what you can. Never mind the fact that a lack of investment will create problems down the line, that staff turnover rises as wages are squeezed and suppliers abandon the company. Such problems are for the next owner to discover. Private equity is reaching ever deeper into British life. Take the village of Little-bredy in Dorset. It was recently acquired wholesale by a firm called Belport, which bought all 32 properties in the village from Sir Philip Williams, whose family had owned it for seven generations. One resident who had lived in Littlebredy for 21 years was evicted to make way for an office, while part of the village has been closed to public access. Belport insists that rumours of a mass eviction in January are incorrect. But no one is quite sure what they plan on doing with the estate. Perhaps the village will be turned into a private members' club like Soho Farmhouse, or maybe it'll become a high-end holiday park or wedding venue. When private equity comes to town, every asset is sweated for all its worth. It's strange to see an English village bought up in the name of shareholder value. But things get much stranger when we look at unloved parts of the British state. The number of children's care homes that are operated by private equity has more than doubled over the past five years. Many of the larger operators have profits in the tens of millions of pounds and margins sit at more than 20 per cent. According to the Local Government Association, children's care homes are charging the taxpayer as much as an annual £3.2 million per child – and fees are growing well above inflation. Meanwhile, many local authorities are themselves close to bankruptcy as they scrabble to pay for these services. 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Repayments to these limited partners are fixed, but the upsides for private equity can be huge. The irony, of course, is that pensions are supposed to create stability for workers. Yet these savings are being used to acquire companies and often cut costs, sometimes even dismantling pension pots. Take the Yorkshire mattress manufacturer Silentnight. In the late 2000s, the family-run firm was facing cash-flow problems. It found salvation in HIG Europe, an affiliate of the Miami-based private equity firm HIG Capital. This gave Silentnight a line of credit, allowing the company to weather the effects of the 2008 recession. That was, until HIG suddenly removed it, demanding the debt be repaid. Within days, Silentnight went into administration and was snapped up by HIG. It's a classic example of what's known as loan-to-own. In the process, the private equity firm jettisoned the company's hefty pensions obligations. 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