Affinity Water has a Temporary Use Ban, the legal name for a hosepipe ban, in force since 11 July 2026, with no end date announced, so it runs until further notice. Affinity Water's Central region (Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey, parts of London and Essex) and its East region (the Tendring peninsula of north-east Essex). Affinity Water supplies 3.9 million people in total. A watering can, a bucket and water you have collected yourself are never restricted by a Temporary Use Ban.
Two regions under two separate statutory notices. The Central ban was brought forward to 11 July 2026 from the 17 July date on its notice. Affinity publishes no start date for the East region.
You cannot use a hosepipe or sprinkler at home. A watering can or bucket is still fine, and the maximum fine is £1,000.
Central region
from 11 July 2026
East region
date not published
Areas covered: Affinity Water's Central region (Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey, parts of London and Essex) and its East region (the Tendring peninsula of north-east Essex).
We are an unofficial tracker, so Affinity Water’s own notice is the version that legally applies to you.
Coverage: what is in, and what is out
Affinity Water runs two bans under two statutory notices. Central covers Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey and parts of London and Essex. East covers the Tendring peninsula of north-east Essex: Clacton-on-Sea, Harwich and Manningtree. Only its Southeast region is outside.
Affinity is water-only and interleaves with Thames Water and Anglian Water at street level, so a household under a notice can share a street with a neighbour who is not. Check the postcode, not the town.
Central and East regions only. A postcode matching neither list below resolves to "check with your supplier", never to a guess either way.
The legal notice behind this ban is dated 17 July 2026. The ban took effect on 11 July 2026, and that is the date that applies to you.
Affinity Water is a groundwater company, and publishes its resource position separately from the restriction notice, alongside a drought management plan. Chalk aquifers recharge over winter rather than in response to summer rain, which is how a company here can restrict use while reservoirs elsewhere look healthy.
The instrument is worth naming, because Affinity cites it precisely: a statutory notice under section 76B of the Water Industry Act 1991, published as a dated PDF separately from the customer-facing page. Section 76B is the publication requirement sitting alongside the section 76 power, which is why the PDF is the document with legal effect.
Central region: Demand running about 20 per cent above normal, combined with low rainfall.
East region: The Environment Agency declared drought across more than two thirds of England on 10 August 2026, including Affinity's Central and East regions.
A Temporary Use Ban does not prohibit hosepipes in general. It prohibits the eleven uses at s.76(2) of the Water Industry Act 1991, starting with watering a garden, cleaning a private motor vehicle, watering plants on domestic or other non-commercial premises, cleaning a private leisure boat and running through pools, ponds, fountains, walls, windows, paths and patios. Anything outside those eleven is untouched.
A watering can, a bucket and water you have collected yourself are never restricted by a Temporary Use Ban. Neither is water that never came through the mains: a hosepipe fed from a butt, a borehole or grey water sits outside the notice, because it attaches to the water rather than to the hosepipe.
Each company then publishes its own concessions, and they differ enough that one list is no guide to another. These 6 are Affinity Water's:
Watering with a watering can or bucket
Water from a water butt or other non-mains source
Blue Badge and Priority Services Register customers, automatic under Annex 2
WaterSure tariff customers
Drip and trickle irrigation with a pressure reducing valve and timer
Breaching a Temporary Use Ban is a criminal offence, not a civil matter. The maximum is level 3 on the standard scale, currently £1,000, under section 76(5) of the Water Industry Act 1991. It is not a fixed penalty: Affinity Water cannot issue one and would have to prosecute. In practice companies publish an enforcement policy that starts with a warning, so a first breach realistically produces a letter.
Affinity Water publishes a Temporary Usage Bans enforcement policy and a misuse reporting form. Blue Badge and Priority Services Register customers are automatically exempt under Annex 2 of the statutory notice.
The useful document here is the drought management plan Affinity publishes annually, because that is where the sequence is written down: what it does before a hosepipe restriction and what it applies for afterwards. A restriction on domestic hosepipe use is an early step in that sequence, not a last resort.
Recorded here this season for Affinity Water: a restriction beginning 11 July 2026, running 67 days so far. Events are permanent. When one ends we set its end date and keep it, so this page can still say what ran and for how long.
Is there a hosepipe ban in the Affinity Water area right now?
Yes. Affinity Water has a Temporary Use Ban in force, in effect since 11 July 2026. Central and East regions only
When does the Affinity Water hosepipe ban end?
No end date is announced: it runs until further notice. Companies lift restrictions after sustained rain, not on a fixed date.
Can I water my garden or wash my car during the Affinity Water ban?
Not with a hosepipe, sprinkler or pressure washer fed from the mains. A can or bucket is fine, as is a hosepipe fed from a butt or borehole. Commercial car washes are unrestricted.
What is the fine for breaking a Affinity Water hosepipe ban?
Up to 1,000 pounds, imposed by a magistrates' court on conviction under section 76 of the Water Industry Act 1991. It is not a fixed penalty: Affinity Water would have to prosecute, and starts with a warning.
Am I exempt if I am on the Priority Services Register?
Usually, but not automatically everywhere. Most companies exempt Priority Services Register customers and Blue Badge holders who cannot reasonably use a can or bucket, some automatically and some on registration. Affinity Water's own notice sets the wording.
How do I know if Affinity Water supplies my address?
Your water bill, on the water supply line rather than the sewerage line: in much of England and Wales those are two different companies. Affinity Water supplies affinity water's central region (bedfordshire, berkshire, buckinghamshire, hertfordshire, surrey, parts of london and essex) and its east region (the tendring peninsula of north-east essex).
Does the ban cover the whole Affinity Water area?
No: central and east regions only. Being a Affinity Water customer is not the same as being inside the restriction, so check the coverage section above or your postcode.
Why do I see two different start dates for the Affinity Water restriction?
Both were announced. The statutory notice of 10 July 2026 set enforcement for 17 July, then Affinity brought it forward to 11 July.
Counties and areas Affinity Water serves
The Central region covers Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire most fully, then parts of Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Essex and north and west London, following the chalk rather than county lines.
14 outward postcode districts resolve to Affinity Water here, as primary supplier or as one candidate among several. An outward code is the part before the space: SO14, not SO14 3AB.
Town pages here: Slough, Luton, Watford. Each resolves from its own outcode rather than this company's headline status, which matters most where a town sits outside a restriction its supplier has declared.
Affinity Water publishes water quality data openly but does not include a hardness determinand in any edition. We have asked them for it in writing. In the meantime their own customer pages are the place to check.
Source of record: Affinity Water’s own status page, last checked 16 September 2026. We do not publish a hosepipe ban on the strength of a news report; every status rests on a primary source.