dr. Alison Hoyle, director of risk and compliance at Southern Water, said: “We have not taken this decision lightly and we know that the temporary ban on use will affect our customers.
“We are working with the Environment Agency to ensure we are acting responsibly to protect our environment. We are asking everyone in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to do their part by supporting these measures and using only the water that they need.
“We are experiencing one of the driest years in over a century and we have seen record temperatures.
“River flows are about 25 percent lower than they should be for July, equivalent to the loss of more than 25 million bathtubs.
“We ask our customers to help protect our rivers and the habitats that live there by reducing their water use.
“We believe a temporary ban on use is a responsible and essential step to reduce the amount of water drawn from the Rivers Test and Itchen.”
Most of England is experiencing “prolonged dry weather,” the phase before an official drought, the Environment Agency said earlier this week.
Today, for the first time since 2020, a ban on garden hoses on the Isle of Man came into effect.
High demand during the heat wave earlier this month, a dry winter and spring and rainfall well below the July average have exacerbated the water shortage.
The company said one hour of using a garden hose equals more water than each person uses per week on average in the region.