South West Water Hosepipe Ban Status 2026

Coverage Area

South West Water supplies Devon, Cornwall, parts of Dorset and Somerset, and the Isles of Scilly. From 00:01 on Saturday 8 August 2026 the Temporary Use Ban covers all of them: every South West Water customer, not a set of named towns.

South West Water supplies around 1.8 million people. It has not published a separate figure for how many are covered by this ban, and we will not estimate one: the company defines it as all of its customers rather than by a headcount.

Until 8 August this was a zone-level ban around named Mid and East Devon towns, and places like Exeter and Plymouth genuinely were outside it. That distinction ends at 00:01 on Saturday: the ban now follows South West Water's supply area, not a town list. Dorset and Somerset are covered only in part, because South West Water supplies only part of those counties and Wessex Water and Bournemouth Water supply the rest, so a Dorset or Somerset address needs the postcode checker rather than an assumption.

Not sure of your supplier or whether your address is covered? Use the postcode checker. Official site: South West Water Ltd.

Drought Outlook

South West Water's region normally benefits from Atlantic-driven rainfall, which is what made the July zone-level ban unusual: it was driven by demand on specific treatment works rather than by regional shortage. The August extension is different in kind. South West Water cites a prolonged period of hot and dry weather with record temperatures, rainfall well below seasonal averages over many months, and continuous high demand putting pressure on reservoirs and available water resources. The Environment Agency has declared half of England, including the South West, in drought, and the Met Office says England and Wales provisionally recorded their driest July on record, with southern England seeing its driest month in a record going back to 1836. Drought status is an Environment Agency designation and a separate instrument from the ban itself, which remains South West Water's own Section 76 decision.

UK Lawn Care During South West Water Restrictions

From 8 August this applies wherever South West Water supplies you, so Cornwall, Plymouth, Exeter and Torbay are now included. The ban restricts the hosepipe, not the water: a watering can is unrestricted, and a hosepipe fed from a water butt or other recycled storage is explicitly outside the ban. Turf laid within the last 28 days may still be watered. An established lawn does not need rescuing anyway. UK lawns are cool-season grasses that brown off in drought to protect their crowns and green up within weeks of autumn rain, so stop feeding, raise the mower to 50 to 60 millimetres and leave the clippings.

See our keep your lawn alive under a hosepipe ban guide, and overseeding during a hosepipe ban for the September window.

Counties South West Water Serves

County guides exist for the areas listed below. For any other part of the South West Water area, use the postcode checker rather than a county page:

Not sure your area is covered? Is there a hosepipe ban in my area? or use the postcode checker.