Water Alert Renewed Amid Ongoing Warm, Dry Conditions

Island Water Use Nears Reservoir Levels as Heatwave Looms

With the island’s dry summer showing no sign of easing and reservoir levels under growing pressure, Jersey Water is bracing for a surge in demand next week — predicting islanders could use around 160 million litres of water during the warm spell.

That figure is almost equivalent to the entire current volume of Grands Vaux reservoir.

The utility company is urging households and businesses to keep consumption in check to avoid the need for restrictions such as a hosepipe ban.

Since 23 July, the island’s desalination plant — which turns seawater into fresh drinking water — has been in operation, adding 100 million litres to the supply so far. That’s enough to fill Millbrook reservoir three times. However, running the facility costs more than £5,000 a day.

Water reserves now stand at 5% below average, with no measurable rainfall recorded in August and streams starting to run dry. According to Jersey Water’s Head of Water Resilience, Mark Bowden, current stocks would last around 85 days at present usage levels.

But with higher temperatures forecast, he expects consumption to rise again:

“Our message is still for customers to only use what they need and cut back on any waste. We’re encouraged to see demand falling and appreciate the efforts people are making to reduce their use. Thanks to this, we’ve so far been able to avoid introducing any restrictions.”

For now, there are no immediate plans to impose temporary bans, but Jersey Water says it is keeping a close eye on demand.