Hosepipe bans, officially known as Temporary Use Bans, are now in force across nine water companies, covering millions of households from Kent to west Wales. Most people know there are exemptions for Blue Badge holders and vulnerable customers. What far fewer realise is that the rules are not the same from one supplier to the next. Assuming you are exempt when your water company says otherwise is a costly mistake: breaking a hosepipe ban is a criminal offence, with fines of up to £1,000.
Who the exemptions are actually for
A hosepipe ban only restricts mains water used through a hosepipe. Several uses stay open to everyone: watering by hand with a watering can or bucket, using rainwater from a water butt or recycled household water, and, at most companies, an approved drip or trickle irrigation system fitted with a timer. Health and safety uses, and the welfare of animals including fish, are exempt everywhere too.
On top of that, companies grant exemptions to certain customers. Three groups come up time and again: people with a disability or serious mobility problems, customers on the Priority Services Register, and, at some suppliers, those on the WaterSure tariff for medical reasons. But an exemption is never a blanket free pass: it applies to a defined category of customer, and that definition changes depending on who supplies your water.
The Blue Badge trap
The single biggest source of confusion is the Blue Badge. At most companies, holding one makes you automatically exempt, with no form and no phone call. But not everywhere. Thames Water does not treat a Blue Badge as enough on its own: it asks for “severe mobility difficulties”, and Anglian Water uses the badge only as a route onto its Priority Services Register rather than as an exemption in itself. South East Water doesn’t mention the Blue Badge at all; its only path is the register.
Wording and rules differ, and a ban can be updated at any time, so always confirm on your own supplier’s hosepipe-ban page before you rely on an exemption. Two neighbours served by different companies can genuinely end up with different rights.
How to secure your exemption for free
The single most useful step is to join your water company’s Priority Services Register. It is free, and at several suppliers, including Affinity Water, Cambridge Water and Welsh Water, being on it or holding a Blue Badge makes you exempt automatically, with no need to ask permission. One quirk is worth knowing: Welsh Water will not send a confirmation letter, so keep your own record of the date you registered. South West Water is the outlier that asks people with mobility problems but no Blue Badge to apply for their exemption in writing.
The register that helps beyond the garden
Signing up to a priority register pays off well beyond a dry summer. The same idea exists on the energy side: electricity and gas suppliers and network operators keep their own Priority Services Register for customers who are older, disabled or unwell, giving them priority in a power cut and extra help with meters and bills. If a hosepipe ban has prompted you to check what support you qualify for, it is worth doing exactly the same with your energy supplier. Vulnerable households may also be entitled to extra help such as a social tariff on their energy bills. And if the heat itself is the real problem this summer, our guide to staying safe and keeping bills down in a heatwave covers the essentials.