Conserve water company says

Welsh Water is asking customers to save water as the current dry spell is set to continue through July and into August.

The water company says it is spending and extra £1.5 million a week to safeguard water supplies for its three million customers, working seven days a week to fix 140 leaks a day.

It has pumped over a billion litres a day into the network for the past 15 days, 25 per cent more than usual and deploying 40 tankers to move water around the network and installing pipelines and pumping stations to keep customers supplied.

Now the company is urging customers to take a short shower instead of a bath, make sure washing machines and dishwashers are full before turning them on and not to leave the tap running when brushing teeth.

"Take a break from watering the garden – the lawn will grow back quickly once it starts to rain," Managing Director of Water Services, Ian Christie, said.

“The level of water consumption has reached record levels in recent weeks. This is not surprising after the record temperatures in June and the continued lack of any substantial rainfall in July.

“We’d like to thank customers for working with us and urge them to continue reporting any leaks and follow the advice we have issued on how to use water efficiently so that we can help protect water supplies also play our part in safeguarding the local environment.”

Natalie Hall, Water Manager for Natural Resources Wales, said: “We’re responsible for securing the proper use of natural resources in Wales and making sure there is enough water available for all needs including the environment and people.

“We’re seeing some very low flows in our rivers and low rainfall totals across Wales during this prolonged period of dry weather and there are concerns that water quality and the environment will suffer if the dry weather continues through the summer.

“Every drop of water we use is taken from rivers or groundwater, so we are asking people to conserve water as much as they can."