Reservoirs under half full...despite all that rain

DAYS of torrential downpours have not been enough to lift a hosepipe ban affecting millions.

- By Matthew Dooley

Yorkshire Water yesterday said its water levels have continued to fall and reservoirs are less than half full.

The company enacted a hosepipe ban on July 11 when levels stood at 56% capacity — compared with a typical 82% for this time of year.

But latest figures show those levels have now dropped to below 50%.

Yorkshire Water has 5.7 million customers. Director Dave Kaye said although some areas have recently had more than 20mm of rain, the region has endured five months of below-average rainfall.

Impact

The company supplies more than 1.2 billion litres of water daily.