Sussex's Hosepipe Ban Tightens on 9 October, and South East Water Has Applied for a Ban on Non-Essential Use

South East Water’s hosepipe ban in Sussex gets stricter at 00:01 on Friday 9 October 2026. From then, the company says, a hosepipe can only be used “where it is required for health, safety or welfare purposes”. Every other exemption the ban carried since July goes.

The company has also applied to the Secretary of State for a drought order banning non-essential use, which would reach businesses and some uses the hosepipe ban does not cover.

Why Sussex, and why now

Sussex is supplied from groundwater and from two reservoirs, Ardingly and Arlington. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs reported on 2 October that Ardingly is 23% full, against the 74.3% the Environment Agency would expect across England’s reservoirs at this time of year. South East Water says Sussex had just over 56% of its expected rainfall between March and August.

The Environment Agency’s latest weekly drought report, for 25 September to 1 October, records that South East Water has moved to drought level 3, the second-highest of the four levels companies use, in its Eastbourne and Haywards Heath water resource zones. The Agency granted the company a drought permit for the River Ouse at Ardingly on 29 September, which lets it reduce the water it must release into the river.

What you can no longer do in Sussex from 9 October

Unless a health, safety or welfare reason applies, customers in the Sussex supply area cannot use a hosepipe to:

• water a garden, or plants at home
• wash a car, a trailer or a private leisure boat, including through a commercial cleaning service
• fill or maintain a domestic swimming pool, paddling pool or pond
• draw water for recreational use such as a hot tub
• clean the walls or windows of a home, or paths, patios and other artificial outdoor surfaces, including through a commercial cleaning service

Filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain is also banned, including one filled by permanent plumbing. South East Water’s definition of a hosepipe covers sprinklers, irrigation systems and pressure washers connected to the mains.

The company counts health, safety and welfare as uses that remove or reduce a risk to human or animal health or safety, or stop the spread of disease.

Who it covers

The tighter rules apply only to South East Water’s Sussex supply area, its resource zones 2 and 3. They also apply to homes and businesses in that area supplied through another company on South East Water’s network: the company names Last Mile Water, Advanced Water Infrastructure Networks (AWIN) and Independent Water Networks (IWNL).

In Kent, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire, the hosepipe ban in place since July continues with its existing exemptions, including the automatic exemption for customers on South East Water’s Priority Services Register. Anyone unsure which company supplies their water can check by postcode on South East Water’s website.

The company says the restrictions will stay “until we are confident that water resources have recovered”, and that it will announce the lifting in newspapers, by email or letter, and online.

The wider ban the company has applied for

A hosepipe ban is a company’s own power. A non-essential use ban needs a drought order from the Secretary of State, under the Water Resources Act 1991. Defra said on 2 October that South East Water was set to apply that day, and the company’s notice of the application covers its Sussex region.

If it is granted and the company decides to use it, the order could restrict ten categories of water use, most of them outside the home:

• watering outdoor plants on commercial premises
• filling or maintaining a non-domestic swimming or paddling pool, including members-only pools such as hotel and private club pools
• filling or maintaining a pond, domestic or non-domestic (ponds keeping fish or other animals are excluded)
• running a mechanical car or truck washer
• cleaning vehicles other than private cars, boats other than private leisure boats, aircraft and trains with a hosepipe
• cleaning the outside or windows of non-domestic buildings with a hosepipe
• cleaning industrial plant and suppressing dust with a hosepipe
• running automatic flushing cisterns in buildings that are empty or closed

The notice lists exclusions and possible concessions for each, from pools open to the public to car washers that recycle water. Before using the order, the company says it would publish a further notice with dates and any concessions.

Anyone can object, until 16 October 2026. Objections go in writing to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, quoting the applicant’s name, by email to water.resources@defra.gov.uk, or by post to Water Resources Policy, Defra, Seacole Ground Floor, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF. The application can be inspected free until the same date at Barcombe Village Hall, near Lewes, and at South East Water’s offices in Snodland, Kent.

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Read at source on 6 October 2026: South East Water’s “Hosepipe restrictions in all areas” page and its “Sussex hosepipe restrictions FAQs”, the company’s statutory notice of application for a drought order prohibiting or limiting the use of water (Water Resources Act 1991, sections 73 and 74(2)(b)), 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), and the Environment Agency’s “Dry weather and drought in England: 25 September to 1 October 2026” (corrected 5 October 2026). Water Pages is an independent information service, not a government body or a water company.