Welsh Water (Dŵr Cymru) Hosepipe Ban Status 2026

Coverage Area

Welsh Water supplies most of Wales plus parts of Herefordshire and Cheshire near the Welsh border. The Temporary Use Ban applies ONLY to one supply zone in west Wales: mid and south Ceredigion, north Pembrokeshire and north Carmarthenshire. The rest of Wales is not covered.

Welsh Water says the ban covers around 33,000 properties in a single water supply zone. That is the company's own figure for the restricted area, not its customer base, which is around 3 million people across Wales.

The ban covers parts of west Wales: Aberaeron, Llanon, Llangwyryfon, Cwm Ystwyth, Tregaron, Pontrhydfendigaid, Ystrad Meurig, Lampeter, Felinfach, Ciliau Aeron, Llandysul, New Quay, Aberporth, Rhydlewis, Crymych, Eglwyswrw, Nevern, Newport (Pembrokeshire), Llanfyrnach, Tegryn, Star, Farmers, Pencader, Hermon and surrounding areas.

Not covered: This ban does NOT cover Wales as a whole. Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, the valleys, mid and north Wales and the Welsh Water areas of Herefordshire and Cheshire are not restricted. The great majority of Welsh Water customers are unaffected: the ban covers a single water supply zone of around 33,000 properties in mid and south Ceredigion, north Pembrokeshire and north Carmarthenshire. The boundary follows the supply network rather than a postcode, so check Welsh Water (Dŵr Cymru)'s own affected-area list for your address.

The restricted area is a single water supply zone fed by the Teifi Pools reservoirs and abstraction from the River Teifi at Llechryd, so its boundary follows the network rather than any county or postcode line. Communities in the same county sit on both sides of it. Our postcode checker maps at postcode-area level and cannot resolve a Welsh supply zone, so Welsh Water's own postcode checker is the definitive answer for an individual address.

Not sure of your supplier or whether your address is covered? Use the postcode checker. Official site: Welsh Water (Dŵr Cymru Cyfyngedig).

Why Welsh Water (Dŵr Cymru) Declared This Restriction

This is not a drought ban, and Welsh Water is unusually direct about it: the company states the restrictions are "not being introduced because there is a shortage of water in our reservoirs" and calls the measure demand-led and short-term. Reservoir levels are described as healthy. The constraint is the ability to treat, pump and replenish local storage fast enough during the busiest parts of the day in a zone fed by just two treatment works, made worse by holiday-season population. Welsh Water also notes that moving water in from reservoirs elsewhere in Wales is impractical given the terrain and pumping costs. Note the regulatory framing: the environmental regulator in Wales is Natural Resources Wales, not the Environment Agency, and Wales runs its own drought planning framework, so English drought-status announcements do not describe the Welsh position.

What is Banned, What is Allowed

Restricted uses: Within the affected zone only, and Welsh Water counts sprinklers, dripper hoses and automatic irrigation systems as hosepipes: watering a garden; watering plants on domestic or other non-commercial premises; drawing water for domestic recreational use, which Welsh Water says includes filling a hot tub; cleaning a private motor vehicle, including taxis and minicabs; cleaning a private leisure boat; cleaning walls or windows of domestic premises; cleaning paths or patios; cleaning other artificial outdoor surfaces; filling or maintaining a domestic swimming or paddling pool; filling or maintaining a domestic pond; filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain.

Welsh Water's own page says customers can still do all of the restricted activities using mains water from a bucket or watering can, or using water that is not from the mains: grey water, rainwater from a water butt through a hosepipe, or a private borehole. Welsh Water's published notice does not list personal exemption categories such as Blue Badge holders, so we do not claim any: check directly with Welsh Water if you think your circumstances should be treated as an exception.

Exemptions differ between companies. Before relying on one, check Welsh Water (Dŵr Cymru)'s own notice. For the newly laid turf rule, see our 28-day new turf exemption guide, and for the commercial rules our hosepipe ban rules for businesses.

Fines and Reporting

Maximum fine: £1,000 maximum per violation.

Welsh Water's public notice is given under sections 76 and 76A to 76C of the Water Industry Act 1991, which apply in Wales as they do in England. Breaching a Temporary Use Ban is an offence and a court may impose a fine of up to £1,000. The fine applies only inside the restricted west Wales supply zone.

Reporting channel: Welsh Water customer services.

Legal notice: the statutory notice (PDF). The legally-operative terms are in the notice itself.

UK Lawn Care During Welsh Water (Dŵr Cymru) Restrictions

If you are inside the affected west Wales zone, the ban restricts the hosepipe rather than the water: a watering can or bucket is still allowed, and Welsh Water explicitly permits rainwater from a water butt through a hosepipe. An established lawn does not need rescuing in any case. UK lawns are cool-season grasses that go dormant and brown in a heatwave to protect their crowns, then green up within weeks of autumn rain. Stop feeding, raise the mower to 50 to 60 millimetres, and leave the clippings. If you are elsewhere in Wales no restriction applies to you, though this ban is a good argument for fitting a water butt before next summer.

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

Frequently Asked Questions