June 2025
"We are writing to provide an update on our water resources situation, as you’ll be aware, we have been experiencing a prolonged period of dry, warm weather across the region and it has been the driest Spring since the 1950’s. Water levels in the North West’s rivers, lakes, groundwaters and reservoirs are currently lower than average for this time of year. We’ve continued to see the risk of wildfires across our region and other sectors, like agriculture and growers, are struggling with the dry ground conditions.
"There are a number of actions we are taking to help safeguard water supplies and protect the environment. To help encourage reductions in water use, we will be sending some direct communications to business customers (please see copies attached) and increasing our messaging through normal media channels, urging people to act now.
"During the warm weather, our teams have been cleaning and putting more water into supply to match the demand for it. At times, the extra water being used is equivalent to supplying a town the size of Blackpool and the Fylde coast area. Our water resources team and hydrologists are monitoring the situation daily, to ensure we manage and balance this demand in the best possible way.
"Our well tested plans include using our vast integrated network of pipes to move water around from one part of the region to another, where it is needed. Customers in some areas may notice some slight changes in the taste of their water as we move water around. While this may be a bit different, customers should be reassured that their tap water will continue to meet all stringent water quality requirements.
"We have also begun reducing water pressures in some areas. This is being done in line with BAU pressure management levels, and we are taking great care to ensure that sensitive customers are not affected. If any of your customers experience supply issues, please direct them to contact us on 0345 075 0713.
"We will have brought around a further 75 million litres of water each day into the system by the end of the month from sources that have existing abstraction licences.
"We continue to find and fix leaks as quickly as possible, a task made even more challenging by the dry weather. As the ground dries out, it moves and this can cause some of our water pipes to shift and leak. Last week we fixed 900 leaks, more than we have ever repaired before in that timescale and we are at our lowest ever level of leakage. Since our last email explaining how dry it has been, we’ve seen a fantastic response and the number of leaks reported to us has significantly increased. We encourage everyone to report any leaks to us via our app, website or by calling 0345 672 3723.
"We have been sharing updates over the past few weeks and continue to urge everyone to act now and do all that they can to reduce the amount of water used, helping to manage the impact on their local environment and, in turn, if on a meter, saving money on both water and energy.
"Since April, we:
- have sent targeted information to more than 550,000 households and businesses in hotspot areas where demand was high;
- have sent over 2 million emails to customers across the region to ask for support in saving water where they can;
- contacted more than 160,000 households where we can see water usage has increased and could be due to a leak;
- switched daily messages on the regional ITV weather sponsorship to water saving information, reaching 4.2 million adults in the North West;
- are promoting water saving messages through On Demand TV, reaching 2 million people;
- are running daily information across commercial radio stations and have taken part in local BBC radio shows;
- have included messages in regional newspapers, with a combined readership of over 800,000;
- are using digital and all our social media channels to share our information and advice;
- have contacted youth groups across the Northwest; and
- are sharing our information with partner organisations across the region, including asking for the support of our supply chain in ensuring water is being used carefully across all operations.
"With some rain in the forecast, this may mean demand reduces and people may be tempted to think saving water won’t be needed. However, we need a few weeks of rainfall to help reservoirs recover to normal levels for this time of year so we are asking people to use less water where they can.
"We are working collaboratively with colleagues in Yorkshire Water to spread the messages about the impact of the dry weather, highlighted in particular by a spate of moorland fires on both sides of the Pennines.
"Thank you for helping us to save water."
