UK water companies are urging their customers to save water as the country faces high temperatures and some water suppliers are struggling to keep up with a 25% increase in demand.
In Jersey, the Island’s reservoirs are in a healthy position being 90% full, ahead of this time last year by approximately 30 million litres. The Company is currently supplying around 23 million litres of water each day, in line with normal summer demand. Jersey Water is not facing the demand challenges presented in some parts of the UK and is managing supplies to ensure the daily demand for water is met.
The Company, whose reservoirs hold approximately 120 days of consumption when full, is taking the opportunity to remind Islanders to use water wisely in order to help reduce waste, preserve water resources and help keep bills down.
Some of the most effective water saving solutions are the easiest to deploy. Take a look at our top tips below:
1. Take a shower instead of a bath – the average shower uses 40 litres less water than a bath.
2. If you’d rather take a bath, running it just one inch shallower can save 5 litres of water – twice your daily intake through drinking.
3. Lawns do not need constant watering – a sprinkler can use as much as 1,000 litres of clean drinking water in a single hour; more than a family of four would use in a whole day.
4. Turn off the tap – you can save six litres of water a minute by turning off the tap when you brush your teeth.
5. Check for leaks in your home – if you have a dripping tap or a leaky pipe in your house you could be dripping away money.
6. Visit Jersey water’s website www.jerseywater.je for lots of water saving tips and free devices.
Helier Smith, Chief Executive said “Our water resources are currently in a healthy position and ahead of last year. The prolonged period of dry weather and high temperatures has meant that water consumption in Jersey has increased to normal summer demand slightly earlier than usual. We understand that the next few months are possibly going to be drier than average so we may see further periods of summer demand and low rainfall. At present this gives us no particular cause for concern. However, we will continue to monitor the situation closely. We have our standby desalination plant at our disposal should the need arise but at this stage it is too early to tell whether it will be required to run this year. In the meantime we would remind our customers to use water wisely and not waste it when enjoying this lovely weather.”