Water plant that could help stop hosepipe ban in face of drought shut down

4 August 2022, 08:58 | Updated: 4 August 2022, 09:04

A £250 million water plant built to protect thousands of Brits from drought has been switched off due to high running costs.

Despite several hosepipe bans having already been introduced across the country, Thames Water said the plant would not be up and running until next year at the earliest.

The company told regulators in January that the facility - based in Beckton, east London - was ready to be turned on to help provide fresh drinking water to up to 400,000 households, according to the Telegraph.

However, the paper revealed that it had actually been turned off over questions of whether it was ever fully operational.

Senior industry sources said the plant - which is the only one in the UK designed to turn salty seawater into fresh water - had been mothballed amid concerns over its high running costs compared with asking customers to limit their water use.

Brits have been asked to stop washing their cars and watering their lawns.

Read more: Fresh hosepipe ban for Kent and Sussex after 'extreme weather conditions' triggers record dry spell

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A Thames Water spokesperson said: "Our desalination plant is currently out of service due to necessary planned work.

"Our teams are working as fast as possible to get it ready for use early next year, if we were to have another dry winter."

The company has warned that a hosepipe ban could be on the cards after it received just 65 per cent of the average rainfall for the area in three months.

Customers are expected to be asked to cut their use down to 80-100 litres a day, compared with current average levels of 140 litres.

It comes after Tory rivals Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak both vowed to hold the water industry to account on Wednesday.

A spokesman for Liz Truss' campaign said: "We shouldn't be in a position where hosepipe bans have to happen. More needs to be done to make sure water companies fix leaks and waste across their networks. 

"As Prime Minister, Liz would look at how best Ofwat could hold those water companies with the worst track record to account, so that hard-working people across the country are not restricted on their water use over the summer months."

Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak told the Telegraph he would consider introducing compensation if the bans were found to be a result of water company failures.

"It is unacceptable for water companies to impose restrictions on their customers when they fail to stem leaks," he said.

"We need tougher financial penalties on the companies that are not investing enough to stop water being wasted."