Families told to ‘take short showers and turn off tap while brushing teeth'
Families have been told to take short showers and turn off the tap while brushing teeth to protect Scotland's water reserves.
The advice to use supplies sparingly has been issued by Scottish Water after the driest start to the year since 1964.
The firm said Scotland – a country that usually gets more than its fair share of rainfall – had been using around an extra 150 million litres of water a day since the middle of April.
It estimates that reservoir levels in some parts are up to 10 per cent lower than average.
Alex Plant, Scottish Water's chief executive, said the average person in Scotland is using about 40 per cent more water than the average person in Yorkshire, which he warned is 'not a sustainable position'.
Guidance offered by Scottish Water includes cutting out lengthy showers and not leaving the tap running when brushing teeth.
It estimates that knocking two minutes off a daily shower can save over 5,000 litres each year and cleaning teeth with the tap on wastes five litres of water a minute.
It recommends using washing machines and dishwashers only when fully loaded and using a bucket and sponge rather than a hose to wash cars.
Scottish Water said a large amount of additional water use is in gardens but has stopped short of imposing a full hosepipe ban, which was last implemented in Scotland in 1995.
Instead, people are advised to use a watering can instead of a garden hose and avoid using sprinklers.
Scotland has been basking in temperatures of around 25C for the past week and forecasters do not expect rainfall until at least 22 May.
The hottest day of the year so far north of the border was recorded on Tuesday in Auchincruvie, in South Ayrshire, and Tyndrum, in Stirlingshire, where temperatures soared to 25.5C.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said 23 areas surrounding major bodies of water – including the Clyde, Dee, Firth of Forth and Firth of Tay – were experiencing some level of water scarcity.
A number of areas, including Potterton near Aberdeen, Turnberry in South Ayrshire and Balfron in west Stirlingshire are having normal water supplies boosted by tankers.
In Moray, borehole supplies from the River Spey are being boosted by pumping water directly from the river to maintain normal levels.
Mr Plant told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme that there was 'good resilience' in the water supply and while a hosepipe ban remained 'some way off', it was a measure that could be considered.
He added: 'We think about it being wetter here that in other parts of the UK, and of course it is but we are not immune to these changing weather patterns and we all need to just think a bit differently about it.'
Mr Plant said 'simple steps' would help maintain normal supplies, saying Scotland's climate as a whole is changing.
From January to April the country had only 59 per cent of its long-term average rainfall, with May's figures on track to be even lower.
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