Wessex Water's total annual leakage rose to 76.98 Ml/d in 2025-26, from 69.10 Ml/d a year earlier, a rise of 7.88 Ml/d. Months later, on 18 August 2026, the company put a hosepipe ban on its whole supply area, reported as its first in 50 years.
A ban still in place
The Environment Agency's drought report, updated on 6 November 2026, still listed the ban as in force and placed Wessex Water at drought level 3. On 20 October 2026, the company was preparing applications for seven further drought permits. Parts of the Environment Agency's Wessex area supplied by Wimbleball reservoir were in severe drought.
A steady system meets a dry year
Distribution input was 334.58 Ml/d in 2024-25, close to 333.87 Ml/d in 2023-24 and 342.69 Ml/d in 2020-21. Measured homes and businesses received 196.08 Ml/d combined, about 59% of the water put into supply. Treated-water service reservoirs hold 620.2 Ml, a little under two days of supply.
Where demand sits
Unmeasured households used 140.98 litres per person per day in 2024-25, against 126.48 for measured homes. The company's long-term plan says it should contribute to a national ambition of 110 litres per person per day by 2050, and its 2025-30 settlement requires a 5% cut in household use.
Targets moving the other way
Ofwat's 2025-30 determination tasked Wessex Water with a 13% reduction in leakage. Burst repairs also rose, to 145.9 per 1,000 km of mains in 2025-26 from 121.7, though that stayed inside a 151.7 target. The company renewed 28 km of mains in 2024-25.
How the drought fits the company's 2035 supply outlook, which institutions oversee its recovery and what its wider asset base looks like are covered in the full report. The full report, Water Systems Overview: Wessex Water, is available for USD 499. For a free overview, read the Wessex Water Utility Snapshot.