Guide · Irrigation · Restrictions
Drip irrigation during a hosepipe ban: what Thames Water has allowed, and how to plan for the next one
A hosepipe ban in South West London is not a question of if. Thames Water has issued temporary use bans in several recent summers, and each one arrives after weeks of dry weather, exactly when the borders are struggling.
What the bans have covered
A temporary use ban stops you using a hosepipe connected to the mains for watering the garden, filling a paddling pool, washing the car and so on. A sprinkler counts as a hosepipe.
In recent Thames Water bans, drip irrigation systems fitted with a pressure-reducing valve and a timer, which are not handheld and place water directly at the roots, have been listed as permitted. Watering with a watering can has always been allowed, as has using water from a water butt with a hosepipe attached to it.
The exact wording is set each time by the water company, so we check the notice when a ban is announced rather than assume the last one applies. Fines for breaching a ban are set out in the Water Industry Act and can be substantial.
What that means for a garden
The parts of a garden that cost the most to replace are the parts that suffer most in a ban: mature shrubs, hedges, newly planted borders, anything in a pot. The lawn goes brown and comes back in September. A five-year-old hedge that dies does not.
So when we design an irrigation system we separate the garden into zones with that in mind. Borders, hedges and pots go on drip zones with a pressure regulator and a timer, which have been allowed to keep running. The lawn goes on its own spray or rotor zone, which is turned off for the duration.
Rainwater is the other way round it
Water from a tank filled by rain or a bore is not mains water and is outside the ban. A break tank fed from the mains is still mains water. If you are already planning a tank and pump, adding rainwater collection from a roof downpipe is worth a conversation; the tank needs to be large enough to matter, which in a London garden is usually the constraint.
What to do when a ban is announced
- Turn off the lawn zones at the controller.
- Check the drip zones are on a timer and have a pressure regulator (ours always do).
- Read the notice for the exact exemptions that year.
- Mulch the borders if they are not already mulched. It halves evaporation.
If you want a system designed with restrictions in mind, book a free visit or read about our irrigation systems.