Standard content for Members only
To continue reading this article, please login to your Utility Week account, Start 14 day trial or Become a member.
If your organisation already has a corporate membership and you haven’t activated it simply follow the register link below. Check here.
Welsh Water’s reservoir levels are below average for the time of year due to the prolonged dry spell and the company is urging customers to avoid “wasting water”.
It said it is managing its network to ensure supplies are maintained but with little rain forecast in the “foreseeable future” customers need to do “all they can” to use water wisely.
The company said efforts to save water will help ensure reservoir stocks are maintained if the dry weather continues in the autumn and winter.
It issued the warning alongside pictures of some of its reservoirs including Beacons reservoir in the Taff Fawr valley, Craig-y-Pistyll in Ceredigion, and Ffynnon Llugwy in Snowdonia (below), which are below average for the time of year after months of minimal rainfall.
The not-for-profit company said despite some rain across its operating area last weekend, some reservoirs remained lower than usual for the time of year and would be under “greater pressure” if the dry spell persisted.
June was confirmed as the hottest on record in Wales as temperatures reached around 31C in some parts, while the country had just 24 per cent of the average rainfall expected at this time of year.
Welsh Water said it had been “proactively taking measures” for the last two months to safeguard customer supplies and prepare for the hot weather.
It has had 450 staff members out finding and repairing leaks and its 62 water treatment works are being manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help supply a “record” one billion litres a day.
The company has been using 40 tankers to pump extra water into the system to meet demand, while it has moved more than 1,000 million litres of water to ensure customer supply is preserved, since the dry spell began.
Peter Perry, managing director of Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, said: “While we have seen some welcome rain in some areas in the last week, this has only had a limited effect on the level of our reservoirs. After such a lengthy period of dry weather over the past two months, we need some sustained rainfall for all of our reservoirs to return to their normal levels.
“We have been working continuously to find and repair leaks across our network, as well as pumping more than 200 million more litres of water into the network every day to ensure customers’ supplies remain as normal.
“But we need customers to help us while the weather remains dry – not only by letting us know if they spot a leak themselves, but by only using the water they need while it’s hot, but not to waste it. Customers can get advice on our top ten tips of how to use water efficiently around the home and garden from our website.”
Welsh Water provides drinking water to three million customers across most of Wales, Herefordshire and parts of Deeside and maintains 91 reservoirs across the areas it serves.
The reservoirs hold most of the water that Welsh Water draws upon to supply drinking water to its customers. The company has had to use them more to meet increased demand during the hot weather.
Please login or Register to leave a comment.