The hosepipe ban will remain in place in Yorkshire even after a drop in water usage.
Yorkshire Water says reservoir stocks remain low despite people’s efforts to cut down.
Since the restrictions were introduced on 11 July, water usage across Yorkshire has fallen by 10%, with an estimated 70-80 million litres saved during the recent hot weather.
Cooler temperatures and rainfall over the last three weeks have also contributed, saving approximately 35 million litres of water.
Despite these improvements, along with an increase in leak repairs, Yorkshire Water has reported that reservoir levels have dropped by 1.7% in the last seven days.
Total reservoir stocks now stand at 47.4%, which is well below the average of 76.5% for this time of year.
The company also reported that the 135,000 smart meters fitted across Yorkshire has also helped identify over 2,000 properties with leaky pipework.
Of those notified, 50% of customers have taken steps to repair the leaks, saving around 1.5 million litres of water per day.
Dave Kaye, director of water at Yorkshire Water, said:
“A 10% reduction in domestic water use since restrictions were implemented is fantastic and testament to our customers who understand the need to put the hosepipes away and to save water where they can after an extremely dry 2025 so far.
“We have seen temperatures drop and patches of rainfall across the region in recent weeks, which both help to bring down demand for water, but reservoir levels are still falling as we continue to distribute over 1.2 billion litres of water every day. We really appreciate the efforts of residential and business customers to do what they can to reduce water usage.
Mr Kaye stated that the Yorkshire Water teams are working around the clock to find and fix leaks, repairing more than 800 every week to keep water in supply.
“The hosepipe restrictions remain in place, and we recently enacted the next stage of our drought plan – the application for drought permits and orders – to manage the water resources picture in the near and longer-term.
“We will keep customers updated on water resources over the coming weeks and months and will remove the hosepipe restrictions as soon as we can.”
