London ‘million miles from drought’ despite 15% water demand hike

Thames Water has said that the current heatwave has led to a 15 per cent rise in the demand for tap water across London and the Thames Valley.

Since the start of last week, the water company has been supplying 400 million litres a day more than the usual 2.6 billion litres daily.

Jerry White, head of water for Thames Water, said: “At peak times of day in certain areas of the region, demand for water has been increasing by between 20 per cent and 50 per cent.

“It’s like when a sale opens on Oxford Street: there’s plenty of stock but lots more people are trying to go through the door at the same time, so there can be a bit of a crush momentarily.”

Thames Water, said that its treatment works are being “cranked up a notch” to keep pace with the spikes in demand.

These occur first thing in the morning when people are getting washed ready for work and in the evenings when customers turn on sprinklers and fill up pools.

Despite this, Thames Water insists it is “a million miles away from a drought” with groundwater, rivers and reservoirs full, following England’s wettest year in 2012.