Drought Permits, Drought Orders and Bans on Non-Essential Use: What Has Been Applied For in England This Autumn, and What Each Would Do
A hosepipe ban is the step most people see. Behind it are drought permits, which let a water company take more or release less from a river or reservoir, and drought orders, which a minister grants and which can restrict how businesses and households use water. Here is what is in progress, as at early October 2026.
By Water Pages
Hosepipe bans are the part of a drought most households notice. Around 30 million people in England are under one, according to the Environment Agency’s report for the week to 1 October 2026. Behind the bans, the drought is now being managed through two other legal tools, and both have been busy this autumn.
The three tools, in order
A hosepipe ban (temporary use ban) is the water company’s own power, under the Water Industry Act 1991. It restricts household uses such as garden watering and car washing with a hosepipe.
A drought permit is granted by the Environment Agency. In the government’s words of 2 October, it allows a water company “to reduce the amount of water they must provide into local rivers”, so that more is kept back for public supply. A permit changes what the company may take or must release. It does not restrict what customers do.
A drought order is granted by the Secretary of State, under the Water Resources Act 1991. It can change what may be taken from or released into a river, as the River Severn application below shows, and it can also restrict uses of water a hosepipe ban cannot reach. An order of that second kind is what companies call a non-essential use ban, and most of what it restricts is business and non-domestic use.
Drought permits: three granted, more in progress
On 2 October the government said the Environment Agency was “working on 10 Drought Permit applications”. Three have been named, and all three are now granted:
- Granted on 29 September: Thames Water’s permit at Farmoor, and South East Water’s permit for the River Ouse at Ardingly reservoir, which was 23% full on 2 October.
- Granted on 2 October: South West Water’s permit at Wimbleball reservoir on Exmoor, which serves about 390,000 people and was 18% full on 4 October, against 30% a year earlier. The company applied on 16 September, amended the application 13 days later and asked for it to be treated as urgent on 1 October. The permit lets it pause the compensation flow it releases into the River Haddeo, provided it releases at least the same volume downstream to support abstraction from the River Exe for public supply. It runs until 28 February 2027 unless the company withdraws it sooner.
Drought orders: four before ministers
Southern Water, Hampshire. The company applied to the Secretary of State on 31 July for a drought order on the River Test and for a non-essential use order. A public hearing was held on 25 August and the company sent further information on 27 August. The Environment Agency’s 1 October report says a decision is still awaited. Southern Water’s hosepipe ban stays in force in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight meanwhile.
South East Water, Sussex. The government said on 2 October that the company was applying that day for a drought order banning non-essential use across its Sussex region, where its hosepipe ban lost all but its health, safety and welfare exemptions on 9 October. Its notice lists ten uses the order could restrict, most of them on commercial premises: watering plants, filling pools, running mechanical car washes, cleaning vehicles, buildings and industrial plant, and suppressing dust. Ponds, domestic as well as non-domestic, are included. Objections can be made until 16 October 2026, by email to water.resources@defra.gov.uk, quoting the company’s name.
South West Water, Devon and Dorset. The Environment Agency said on 8 October that the company has applied to Defra for a non-essential use ban, which would restrict water use for some businesses across Mid Devon and parts of East Devon and Dorset. The Agency’s release gives no objection window; the statutory notice for the application will.
The River Severn. This order is not a water company’s. The Environment Agency, in England, and Natural Resources Wales applied on 17 August to protect the river’s fish and wildlife, because releases from Llyn Clywedog reservoir in Wales, which keep the Severn flowing in dry years, had drawn it down to its drought triggers. The order would last up to six months. Among its proposals:
- capping releases from Llyn Clywedog at 300 megalitres a day
- lowering the flow the river must keep at Bewdley
- cutting water companies’ licensed abstractions from the Severn by 5%
- capping the abstraction at Gloucester Docks for the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal when the river is low
A hearing was held on 3 September. The Environment Agency’s 1 October report still describes it as an application, and gives it as the reason Bristol Water’s hosepipe ban remains in place: to help protect flows on the Severn.
Which of these reach a household
A drought permit does not change what a household may do. A non-essential use order mostly restricts businesses, although South East Water’s would also cover filling or topping up a pond at home; South West Water’s is described as restricting some businesses. For households, the hosepipe ban remains the rule that applies, and it is set by the company that supplies your water.
Two things are worth knowing. Anyone can object to a drought order while its objection window is open, and the notice for each order says where and how. And a public hearing can be cancelled if every objection is resolved or withdrawn first, as the Severn hearing notice points out.
Read at source on 6 October 2026: the Environment Agency’s “Dry weather and drought in England: 25 September to 1 October 2026” (published 2 October, corrected 5 October 2026); Defra and the Environment Agency’s press release “England’s reservoirs continue to feel drought strain after sixth dry month of 2026” (2 October 2026); South East Water’s statutory notice of application for a drought order prohibiting or limiting the use of water, and its Sussex hosepipe restrictions page; and the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales notices “Notice of application for a River Severn drought order” (17 August 2026) and “Notice of public hearing” (28 August 2026). Read on 9 October 2026: the Environment Agency’s press release “Drought permit granted to support Wimbleball Reservoir” (8 October 2026). Positions change week by week. Water Pages is an independent information service, not a government body or a water company.