WATER bosses will not rule out a hosepipe ban for Lincolnshire in the coming months as drought continues in the county.
Anglian Water has confirmed there is a “definite possibility” action could be taken, despite having avoided hosepipe bans across its entire region for the last 20 years.
The firm was among the major organisations from the water industry to attend a drought summit with Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) on Monday.
There they discussed measures already implemented to tackle drought and actions that need to be taken to mitigate its impact in the future.
John Clare, from Anglian Water, said: “There is a definite possibility of a hosepipe ban. We have not had a ban in any part of the Anglian Water region in 20 years but it would be silly of me to rule it out, especially in parts of Lincolnshire.
“We are doing all that we can to get on top of it and leakage and that’s why we are asking customers to try and conserve water where they can.
“We’re not asking them to go without but we are asking them to do what they normally do in a more efficient way.”
Lincolnshire has been affected by drought since June, along with Cambridgeshire, parts of Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and West Norfolk.
This month, 11 more counties in the south east of England were also declared to be in drought.
The Environment Agency says September to January was the driest five-month period for the Anglian region – south of the Humber and north of the Thames – since its records began in 1910.
Mr Clare said Anglian Water was already doing everything the Government has asked water companies to do to help the situation.
He said staff will also be looking to work with other water firms where possible but they are still asking customers to do their bit.
Mr Clare added: “If customers spent one minute less in the shower, install a water butt to capture rain water for their plants rather than relying on the mains supply, or use a bucket and sponge to wash their car rather than use a hosepipe. These are the little changes we are asking people to think about.
“There is no panic but there is a situation and we have to recognise there is a concern.”