Is there a hosepipe ban in my area?

Every UK water company, at a glance

Each row links to the company's own restrictions page — always the authoritative source. If we mark a status "unverified", we could not confirm it from the company's site and you should check directly.

What a hosepipe ban actually is

A "hosepipe ban" is formally a Temporary Use Ban (TUB) under section 76 of the Water Industry Act 1991. It restricts using a hosepipe or sprinkler drawing on the mains supply — typically for watering gardens, washing cars, filling paddling pools, and cleaning paths or windows. Breaching a ban is an offence with a fine of up to £1,000, though companies say prosecution is a last resort.

A watering can is always allowed. Most companies also exempt drip-irrigation with a pressure-reducing valve, hosepipes fed from water butts, and customers registered for priority services (for example blue badge holders) — the exact exemptions are in each company's wording, linked from your result.

Some companies also run a voluntary advisory stage — asking customers to cut discretionary use without any legal restriction. We show that separately from a formal ban: an advisory is a request, a TUB is the law.

Bans are declared per company, and sometimes for only part of a company's area, because each company manages its own reservoirs, rivers and groundwater. That is why this checker works from your postcode's supplier — and why national headlines can be wrong about your address.

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