We cannot confirm South Staffs Water's current position from its own published notice, so this page asserts nothing about it. That is deliberate: a wrong all-clear here would send someone out with a hosepipe under a restriction carrying a fine of up to 1,000 pounds, and a wrong restriction would cost them a brown lawn for no reason. Check South Staffs Water's own notice, linked below, before using a hosepipe. Everything else on this page, the supply area, the exclusions, the penalties and the history, is stable information that does not depend on today's status.
Last confirmed on 18 August 2026: a voluntary water-saving appeal, with no legal restriction and no fine. We're re-checking. Voluntary conservation appeal, not a Temporary Use Ban. No legal restriction and no fine. The exact announcement date could not be confirmed from South Staffs Water's own site, which is JavaScript-rendered and did not return content to verification; the appeal is dated to July 2026 only. Cambridge Water is in the same group but supplies a separate region and DOES have a ban in force; the South Staffs area is not covered by it.
Last confirmed: voluntary appeal – checked 29 days ago.
We’re re-checking South Staffs Water’s notice now, so we are not asserting that status today. Their own notice is authoritative. Check it before using a hosepipe.
Check with your supplier
Areas covered: The South Staffs Water supply area: Staffordshire and parts of the West Midlands.
SSWSouth Staffs Water·Status checked 28 days ago by hand
We are an unofficial tracker, so South Staffs Water’s own notice is the version that legally applies to you.
Where South Staffs Water supplies, and where it does not
South Staffs Water supplies 1.3 million people across Staffordshire and parts of the West Midlands, Worcestershire and Shropshire. It is a water-only company, so your sewerage comes from a different supplier and your sewerage bill says nothing about this status: the water supply line of the bill is the one that matters.
The distinction that catches people here is the group structure. Cambridge Water is the same company for regulatory purposes, trading in a separate region 100 miles away, and the two areas have separate water resources. Cambridge Water restricting use in Cambridgeshire does not restrict anything in Staffordshire, and headlines naming the group rather than the region have already produced that confusion once this season.
The sections on why a restriction was declared, and on what it restricts, are not shown here: with the status unconfirmed there is nothing verified to describe, and inventing it would be worse than leaving it out. South Staffs Water's own notice is the authoritative statement of its current position.
Fines and enforcement
If a Temporary Use Ban were in force here, breaching it would be a criminal offence. 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: South Staffs 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.
South Staffs Water has not been under a hosepipe restriction in recent seasons, and the current record here rests on a verified appeal rather than on a claim about its history, which we do not have from a primary source. What is documented is the group position: Cambridge Water dates its own last restriction to the 1995 drought, so neither region of this company has used section 76 powers in the intervening thirty years until the Cambridge notice in July 2026.
Recorded here this season for South Staffs Water: a voluntary appeal beginning 1 July 2026, running 77 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 South Staffs Water area right now?
We could not confirm South Staffs Water's current status from its own notice, so this site asserts nothing either way. Check South Staffs Water's own notice before using a hosepipe.
Why does this page not say whether South Staffs Water has a hosepipe ban?
Because we could not confirm it against South Staffs Water's own published notice, and this site does not assert a status it cannot stand behind. A wrong all-clear costs a reader up to 1,000 pounds; a wrong ban costs them a brown lawn. Neither is acceptable, so it says so instead.
Can I water my garden and wash my car in the South Staffs Water area?
We cannot confirm South Staffs Water's current position, so this page will not tell you either way. A watering can or bucket is safe whatever the status, because a Temporary Use Ban never restricts them. For a hosepipe, check South Staffs Water's own notice first.
What is the fine for breaking a South Staffs 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: South Staffs 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. South Staffs Water's own notice sets the wording.
How do I know if South Staffs 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. South Staffs Water supplies the south staffs water supply area: staffordshire and parts of the west midlands.
Cambridge Water has a hosepipe ban and it is the same company. Am I affected?
No. South Staffs Water and Cambridge Water share ownership but supply two separate regions with separate water resources, about 100 miles apart. The Cambridge notice applies to households billed by Cambridge Water. It does not extend to the Staffordshire or West Midlands supply area.
Counties and areas South Staffs Water serves
The supply area covers Staffordshire with parts of the West Midlands, Worcestershire and Shropshire, sitting inside the much larger Severn Trent sewerage area and bordering Cambridge Water not at all.
5 outward postcode districts resolve to South Staffs 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: Stoke-on-Trent. 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.
Water hardness in the South Staffs Water supply area
South Staffs 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: South Staffs Water’s own status page, last checked 18 August 2026. We do not publish a hosepipe ban on the strength of a news report; every status rests on a primary source.