Thames Water has told customers to take shorter showers after warning that reservoir levels are lower than usual amid the drought.
The utility, which has 16 million customers, said its London reservoirs were 74pc full at the end of last month, which was below average for the time of year.
Its Farmoor Reservoir in Oxfordshire was 92pc full, though this too was below average and the company has said the water level there is declining.
Thames said it was important that customers continued to follow a hosepipe ban introduced on July 23 and urged people to cut water usage in other ways.
Martin Padley, at Thames Water, said: “With reservoir levels below where we would expect them to be for this time of year, and demand remaining high, we’re asking customers to keep going and continue using only what they need.
“Small changes, such as taking shorter showers, turning off taps and avoiding non-essential water use outdoors, all help reduce pressure on our network while our teams continue working around the clock to find and fix leaks.”
Weeks without rain have left 71.3pc of England in drought. Heatwaves have also led to increased demand for water. Thames said customers across London and the Thames Valley used around 100 million litres more water than normal each day during July’s hot weather.
This is a developing story.
