Severn Trent Water Sets Record Demand on July 11 as One Reservoir Falls to 55 % Capacity

Severn Trent Water recorded its highest daily water demand on record on July 11, 2026, when customers used almost 2.4 billion litres, 400 million litres above normal levels. The BBC reported that the volume equals enough water for two million people or 700 million pints. Demand stayed elevated on preceding days as well.

The company attributed the surge to garden watering and paddling pool filling during a period of repeated heatwaves. June 2026 was the warmest June on record for England and the second-warmest for the UK and Wales since 1884, the Met Office stated. The year has already produced more days above 30 °C than all of 1976.

Reservoirs held 77.4 percent of capacity on July 13. Tittesworth Reservoir near Leek, Staffordshire, stood at about 55 percent. Howard Perry, water networks operations lead at Severn Trent, said overall levels remain better than in 2025 because rainfall has been higher this year.

Severn Trent has not imposed hosepipe bans or other restrictions for 31 years. The last such measure occurred in 1995. Perry noted that very high consumption is creating pressure on the network and urged customers to use watering cans instead of sprinklers and to run appliances only when full.

The utility fixes up to 121 leaks per day and lost 88.25 litres per property per day through leakage in the 2024-2025 period, according to government figures. It is building a 21-mile pipeline from Carsington Water in Derbyshire to Tittesworth Reservoir to move supplies northward. Anglian Water imposed a hosepipe ban on July 11.

Affinity Water, Cambridge Water, South East Water and Southern Water have also introduced restrictions this summer. Perry said north Staffordshire faces greater supply risk due to network legacy and population growth.