{"id":712845,"date":"2026-07-27T01:42:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T01:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/712845\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T01:42:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T01:42:17","slug":"blame-privatised-water-firms-for-hosepipe-bans-water-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/712845\/","title":{"rendered":"Blame privatised water firms for hosepipe bans | Water industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was dismayed, when reading your article about hosepipe bans leading to culture wars (\u2018People are scared their neighbours will call the police on them\u2019: how the hosepipe ban got caught up in the culture wars, 23 July<\/a>), by the part that said: \u201cWhy has the ban been put in place, anyway? The\u00a0answer, as with so many things,\u00a0is the climate crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

No, it\u2019s not. The climate crisis is only part of the answer, and probably the smaller part. The privatised water companies have, over many years, privileged the lining of their own pockets over proper maintenance and improvement of the water systems, a fact which has been revealed again and again in your own pages.<\/p>\n

As a result, hosepipe bans are needed far more often than they would be if we were just looking at\u00a0climate change as a cause. Indeed, the article goes on to reflect\u00a0some of these sentiments, but they come from the gardeners who were interviewed.<\/p>\n

If we go on referencing climate change and \u201cunusual conditions\u201d to excuse the despicable behaviour of the water companies, we are colluding in their great fiction.
Gillian Metheringham
Stroud, Gloucestershire<\/p>\n

The key to the issue of hosepipe bans being needed is surely the privatisation of the water companies. They extract huge sums in dividends for their owners \u2013 largely investment funds not based in the UK<\/a> \u2013 while failing to live up to their responsibility to maintain the water supply network. Ofwat has no effective powers of enforcement, it seems.<\/p>\n

The new prime minister should consider imposing a very large tax burden on water company shareholders to fund the replacement of old pipes and the building of new reservoirs. Our water bills are the highest they\u2019ve ever been, our need for water is greater than ever, but leaky pipes are causing a water shortage.<\/p>\n

As for datacentres, they should never be allowed to take priority over such a fundamental human need. If artificial intelligence is so important, let the techies find another way to cool their servers.
Dr Gillian Austen
Bath<\/p>\n

I was disappointed that your article on hosepipe bans did not mention the exemption for golf courses and car washes<\/a>. What madness allows hundreds of thousands of litres to be used to water barren areas of golf courses and keep a car clean?<\/p>\n

I want to keep my flowers and vegetables alive, for the insects and for food. Allotments should have exemptions, as should wildflower meadows and ponds for wildlife. Why should I be concerned about a golf course? I am seriously worried about the neglect of our natural world and those who live in it.
Christine Pedder
St Albans<\/p>\n

It was sad to read about disabled people taking flak for hosepipe rules that have been in place for decades, and people lamenting lost\u00a0plants. But we gardeners have a big responsibility to reduce water\u00a0use. Harvest rain \u2013 our many water butts lasted until last week; use a bowl to reuse washing up and\u00a0rinsing water from your sinks; be selective in deciding which plants to water; mulch! And\u00a0if a plant dies, replace it with a\u00a0drought-resistant alternative.
Graham Jack
Harrow, London<\/p>\n

If water company bosses don\u2019t adhere to the spirit as well as the letter of the ban on bonuses, don\u2019t expect me to stick to the ban\u00a0on hosepipes (Water bosses\u2019 pay rises despite bonus ban and public fury over bills and pollution, 24 July<\/a>).
Toby Wood
Peterborough<\/p>\n

Have an opinion on anything you\u2019ve read in the Guardian today? Please email<\/a> us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters<\/a> section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I was dismayed, when reading your article about hosepipe bans leading to culture wars (\u2018People are scared their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-712845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}