The exposed banks of Bewl water during extremely low water conditions.

Two months of downpours could see the ban being reversed

The hosepipe ban could be reversed in the next couple of months as a result of the downpours of rain the county has seen in the last month.

Thames Water, which covers part of Kent including Edenbridge, admitted it would end their hosepipe ban before autumn unless their reservoirs experienced “an unexpectedly Saharan twist”.

Southern Water are also believed to be considering a u-turn on the ban, whilst South East Water has ruled out the prospect of a ban reversal because its underwater aquifers are still running low.

Paul Butler, Managing Director of South East Water said: “We understand that customers could be confused and frustrated as to why some companies are considering lifting restrictions, while we have to keep ours in place. The fact is the amount of water currently available in our underground reserves simply doesn’t support that course of action, and ahead of what could be much warmer, drier months.

“South East Water gets 75 per cent of the water it supplies from underground supplies, which are very low – some are approaching levels that we’ve never seen before. Conversely other companies get the majority of water supplies from rivers or reservoirs which responded well to all the early spring rainfall.”

The Environment Agency’s latest drought briefing outlined the risk of water restrictions this summer had been significantly reduced due to the wet weather.

The current hosepipe ban was introduced on April 5.