South West Water is confident there will be no need for hosepipe bans in either Devon or Cornwall this year, even if we see prolonged periods of hot and dry weather.

In 2022, a hosepipe ban was put in place in Cornwall and parts of North Devon after the biggest drought in the region for over 130 years. This was extended to other parts of Devon in 2023.

Since then a combination of record-level investment, periods of heavy rainfall and customers doing more to save water, has seen a boost in reservoir levels across the South West.

Last week, South West Water announced that its two biggest strategic reservoirs – Roadford Reservoir in Devon and Colliford Reservoir in Cornwall – have both successfully recharged to over 90% storage capacity.

To help maintain strong water resilience for now and the future, South West Water is investing over £125 million to increase resources in Devon by 30% and in Cornwall by 45%. All of the plans for Devon have now been completed and are in use, with 70% completed in Cornwall as the business works towards delivering desalination in Par and a new water treatment works in Porth.

Roadford Reservoir is now at 100% storage compared with 68% this time last year, while Colliford Reservoir is at 98.5% compared to 60% last year.

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