About: irrigation only | Will Water London

Most irrigation in London is fitted at the end of a build by a landscaper, or by a general contractor who installs a system twice a year. It runs at whatever pressure comes out of the tap, which is fine until the pressure or the rules change.

A system fitted to sprinkle a lawn in 2019 is not among the methods permitted under the current restrictions. It also applies more water than the planting receives: a share of what a pop-up head throws into the air lands on paving, evaporates, or drifts next door.

Why the trade is narrow

A single trade means short jobs and no incentive to extend them. Twenty minutes on site is usually enough to establish what is salvageable, and about a third of visits end with a controller and a valve rather than a new installation.

London clay

Most of London is built on clay, which shrinks when it dries and swells when it wets. The ABI recorded £153m of subsidence claims in the first half of 2026, across almost nine thousand households, at an average payout of £17,263.

An irrigation system will not stop a house from moving, and we make no claim that it will. What consistent root-zone watering changes is the range of soil moisture through a season, particularly close to the mature trees and shrubs that draw the most water out of the ground. We do not offer a subsidence guarantee.

Where we work

All London postcodes. Most of our work is in gardens between a courtyard and about half an acre, above the size a watering can covers and below the size that needs a commercial system.

What we think is coming

Summer 2026 is on course to be the hottest the UK has recorded, drought has been declared across roughly three-quarters of England, and this is the second set of hosepipe restrictions in five years. On that record, we would build a garden's watering around what is permitted during a restriction rather than what is permitted in an average year.

Sources: Association of British Insurers · Met Office · Environment Agency

Questions

Asked most often

If yours is not here, send it by email. We answer whether or not it turns into a job.

Can I use my sprinkler system if I run it at night?

No. The restriction applies to the method rather than the time of day, so a pop-up sprinkler system is no more permitted at 3am than at noon.

Is a drip system really allowed during a restriction?

Yes, provided it meets all four conditions Thames Water sets out: timer, pressure-reducing valve, not hand-held, water delivered directly to the soil without spraying into the air. The wording is quoted in full on the restrictions page, with a link to the source.

How long does the restriction last?

There is no published end date. Thames Water has said it depends on the weather, and that it will announce when the restriction can be lifted. It has been in place since 23 July 2026.

My garden is mostly lawn. Is this worth it?

Often not. A lawn browns off and recovers on its own. If the lawn is the whole garden, the usual advice is to let it go dormant and spend the money on borders and containers, which do not recover on their own.

Will this reduce my water bill?

If you are metered and currently irrigate, yes, because drip applies water at the root rather than into the air and onto paving. If you are not metered, the gain is plant survival and compliance rather than money.

Can you guarantee my system will always be permitted?

We build to the published exemption specification, and at handover we show you that the system meets each of the four conditions. We cannot guarantee how a rule will be interpreted, or that the rules will not change.

Can you work on a system somebody else installed?

Yes. A good proportion of our work is inherited systems with no documentation, and mapping one is often the whole job.

Do you work with garden designers and landscapers?

Regularly. Irrigation goes in at a specific point in a build, after the hard landscaping and before the planting is mulched, so we are used to working to someone else's programme.

Arrange a visit

Tell us the postcode, roughly what is in the ground, and the size of the garden. The visit is free and takes 45 to 90 minutes.

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Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0207 703 2852
WhatsApp: 07958 956640