Peak demand reached but water supplies remain healthy

Thursday 19 July 2018

There are currently no fears of a hosepipe ban in Guernsey as the reservoir is almost 100% full, but we have been using more and more of it during the recent hot weather.

Guernsey Water said its supplies are at 93.3% according to its latest available information.

The utility firm said that with hosepipe bans in the UK being a hot topic in the media recently, it wanted to let everyone know that local water supplies are looking healthy.

While water demand has steadily increased since mid-July, the island's Water Production team has been working hard to ensure all water treatment works have been able to meet these demands.

Guernsey Water said demand in June peaked on Monday 25 when it supplied 15.5 million litres of water.

"Although impressive, this maximum was exceeded twice in June last year, so is not unusual. In fact, due to low demand during the first two weeks of June, in total we supplied less water during June 2018 than we did in June 2017."

The utility firm also said; "interestingly, this peak demand figure for June was not as high as the 16.9 million litres we supplied earlier this year on 1 March, when the thaw after the cold snap at the end of February resulted in an increase in leakage across our water supply network."

While most people have been enjoying the recent warm weather, demand for water continued to increase during the first two weeks of July and on Sunday 8 the island reached peak daily demand for 2018 so far, when 50,000 litres more than the 16.9 million litres supplied on March 1 was supplied.

However, Guernsey Water said "this is still some way below the July record of 23.5 million litres, which was supplied on 28 July 2002."

Guernsey Water also said it is important to remember that "although water levels remain healthy, water is a precious resource and should therefore be used wisely, you can learn more about water saving on our dedicated pages here."