A timer
The system has to run to a schedule rather than being switched on and left. In practice that means a tap timer or a controller. A weather-linked controller costs more and applies less water over a season.
Controller or tap timerReference
What the restrictions allow
Thames Water has had a Temporary Use Ban in place since 00:01 on 23 July 2026, covering every customer it supplies with drinking water. This page lists which watering methods it permits, quotes the drip and trickle exemption in full, and links to the source.
Last reviewed . Restrictions change. Check your own supplier before relying on this page.
01 / Method by method
Watering a London garden at the moment
The restriction applies to the method of delivery. The same litre of water may be permitted or not, depending on how it reaches the soil.
Domestic garden watering under the Thames Water Temporary Use Ban
| Method | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pop-up sprinkler system | Not permitted | Sprays into the air and runs at mains pressure. Meets none of the four conditions. |
| Hosepipe, hand-held | Not permitted | Named in the restriction, including with a trigger nozzle. |
| Hosepipe on a timer | Not permitted | A timer alone is not enough. The exemption also requires pressure regulation and delivery direct to the soil. |
| Soaker hose / porous pipe | Worth checking | Qualifies only where it meets all four conditions, pressure regulation included. Many installations do not, so this one is worth checking rather than assuming. |
| Filling ornamental ponds and water features | Not permitted | Exceptions apply where fish or other aquatic life depend on it. |
| Hanging baskets and planters, by hosepipe | Not permitted | The planting may be identical to a permitted border. The delivery method is what is regulated. |
| Watering can or bucket | Permitted | Unrestricted, and impractical above roughly a small courtyard. |
| Drip or trickle irrigation | Permitted | Provided it is fitted with a timer and a pressure-reducing valve, is not hand-held, delivers water directly to the soil, and does not spray water into the air. |
Caveat. Restrictions differ by water company and by postcode, and change as conditions change. Thames Water has published no end date; the restriction lifts when rainfall and reservoir levels allow. Breaching a Temporary Use Ban is an offence under the Water Industry Act 1991. Nothing on this page is legal advice. Check your own supplier's current rules before relying on it. If you are not sure who supplies you, your water bill will say.
02 / The exemption
Four conditions, all of which must be met
The wording below is quoted from Thames Water's published rules. All four conditions have to be met at once, and together they describe the specification we build to.
You may use “a drip or trickle irrigation system if it is fitted with a timer and pressure-reducing valve, is not hand-held, delivers water directly to the soil, does not spray water into the air.”
Thames Water, hosepipe ban FAQs
A pressure-reducing valve
Emitters jet rather than drip at mains pressure. A pressure-reducing valve caps the pressure entering the line, typically at 1.0 to 1.5 bar.
Typically 1.0–1.5 barNot hand-held
The installation has to be fixed. A line that is picked up and directed by hand is a hosepipe for the purposes of the restriction.
Fixed line onlyDirect to soil, no spray
Water placed drop by drop onto or beneath the soil surface, with no misting and no run-off. It is also the condition that accounts for most of the water saving: nothing evaporates off a leaf or lands on paving.
No airborne water03 / If you already have a system
Most of what you paid for is still in the ground
Most of the cost of an irrigation installation is groundwork rather than fittings, and the groundwork stays where it is. A conversion is therefore quicker and cheaper than the original install.
Usually reusable
Trenching and buried mains runs, sleeving under paths and paving, valve boxes and chambers, the outdoor tap and its non-return valve, and usually the wiring back to the controller position. None of it is dug up again.
Usually replaced
Pop-up sprinkler heads and their risers, and any unregulated distribution. In their place: a pressure-reducing valve, a filter, inline-emitter drip line through the borders, and individual emitters on micro-tube to pots, troughs and specimen trees.
Usually a judgement call
Lawns. Sub-surface drip line under turf is compliant and it works, but it adds about a day to the job because the turf has to come up in strips. On a small lawn that will brown off and recover by October it is usually not worth the cost.
What it does to your water use
A drip system delivers water to the root zone rather than to the air, the leaves and the paving. On the same planting the reduction is substantial, which shows up on a meter and matters again at the next restriction.
Arrange a visit
What you have, and whether it can be used
We test the pressure, open the valve boxes, and say whether what you have is permitted as it stands, convertible, or already compliant.
- [email protected]
- Phone
- 0207 703 2852
- 07958 956640