Hosepipe ban in Dorset: who it covers and who it does not

Three companies supply Dorset and only one has banned hosepipes: South West Water, from 00:01 on 8 August. Wessex and Bournemouth Water have none.

There is a hosepipe ban in Dorset, and for most people reading this it does not apply. Three water companies supply the county, and only one of them has restricted anything.

South West Water’s temporary use ban started at 00:01 on Saturday 8 August 2026 and runs “until further notice”. Its statutory notice says the restriction “applies across South West Water’s entire service area which includes Devon, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, and parts of Dorset and Somerset”. (South West Water, temporary ban on water use, Water Industry Act 1991)

That “parts of Dorset” is the far west corner. South West Water supplies Lyme Regis, where the water is treated mainly at Dotton works in East Devon and comes from boreholes. (South West Water, Lyme Regis drinking water)

Everywhere else in the Dorset Council area, the answer is different:

Wessex Water, which supplies most of the county including Dorchester, Weymouth, Portland, Bridport, Sherborne, Blandford Forum, Shaftesbury and Swanage, says on its own site: “There currently isn’t a hosepipe ban in the Wessex Water region.” (Wessex Water, save water)
Bournemouth Water, which supplies the east of the county and is part of the same group as South West Water, says: “Bournemouth Water does not have a hosepipe ban in place.” Its live leak reports this month cover Verwood and Ringwood. (Bournemouth Water)

The test is not where you live but who bills you. If your water bill says South West Water, the ban applies. If it says Wessex Water or Bournemouth Water, it does not.

What the ban actually stops

The South West Water notice is made under sections 76 and 76A to 76C of the Water Industry Act 1991. It prohibits using a hosepipe, including sprinklers, dripper hoses and automatic irrigation systems, for eleven things: watering a garden; cleaning a private car; watering plants on domestic or other non-commercial premises; cleaning a private leisure boat; drawing water for domestic recreational use; filling or maintaining a domestic pond; filling or maintaining a domestic swimming or paddling pool; filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain; cleaning the walls or windows of a home; cleaning paths or patios; and cleaning other artificial outdoor surfaces.

The notice is equally clear about what is still allowed. You can do all of those things with a bucket or a watering can, or with water that does not come from the mains, such as a water butt, grey water or a private borehole. Drinking, cooking, washing and flushing are untouched.

There are statutory exceptions, including using a hosepipe for health and safety reasons, watering plants grown for sale or commercial use, cleaning a public service or goods vehicle, and filling a pond in which fish are kept. South West Water also lists discretionary exceptions that do not need an application, including watering a domestic garden by someone with severe mobility problems who holds a Blue Badge, and approved drip or trickle irrigation systems fitted with a pressure reducing valve and a timer.

One point that catches sports clubs out: watering grass used for sport or recreation is covered by the health and safety exception only for the active playing strip, not the whole ground.

Why Wessex Water has not followed

Wessex Water’s position is that its resources are holding, not that the weather has been normal. Its own July update records 2mm of rainfall across the region, 4% of the long-term average for the month, with the last six months at 80% of the long-term average. Surface reservoir storage stood at 58% of capacity at the end of July, which the company describes as average for the time of year, while groundwater at its monitoring sites is below average. (Wessex Water, water resources)

Demand is the pressure point. The company says regional demand has been more than 30% above average for the time of year, at more than 400 million litres a day for over 35 consecutive days, which it puts at the equivalent of almost 4,000 hosepipes running constantly. Its banner message to customers is “working together to avoid a hosepipe ban”, and it says restrictions remain possible if demand does not fall.

Water is being pumped into Dorset’s rivers

The part of this that most residents never see is happening in the Piddle valley. Wessex Water runs stream support schemes, pumping water into watercourses when flows drop to trigger levels. As at 6 August it was supporting five Dorset watercourses, putting a combined 20.1 million litres a day into rivers and brooks that would otherwise be running lower.

Three of the five sites feed the River Piddle: Briantspuddle at 9.0 million litres a day, Alton Mill at 1.5 and Morningwell at 0.9. Watergates supports Tadnoll Brook with 7.6 million litres a day and Dewlish supports Devil’s Brook with 1.1.

What it means for you

If you are a Wessex Water or Bournemouth Water customer, you can legally use a hosepipe today. Whether you should is a different question, and both companies are asking you not to. Wessex Water’s whole case for not imposing a ban rests on demand coming down, so the water saved in Dorchester or Sherborne gardens this month is the difference between restrictions and none.

If you are a South West Water customer in Lyme Regis, the ban is in force now and there is no end date. Breaching a temporary use ban is a criminal offence under the Water Industry Act, though companies generally deal with it by writing to customers first. If you think you qualify for an exception, South West Water’s exception list is published with the ban and most of the categories do not require an application.

For everyone, the practical steps are the same and they are unglamorous: fix a dripping loo, which can waste hundreds of litres a day unseen; water plants in the evening rather than the middle of the afternoon; use a watering can rather than a sprinkler; and put a butt on a downpipe before the autumn rain arrives rather than after it.

This is the same weather that has stretched the fire service. Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue declared a major incident on 13 August over the number of wildfires it is attending.