Welsh Water (Dŵr Cymru) issued a public notice on Saturday 18 July and brought a Temporary Use Ban into force at 10:00 on Sunday 19 July 2026.
It covers around 33,000 properties in a single supply zone: mid and south Ceredigion with parts of north Pembrokeshire and north Carmarthenshire, from Llanon and Tregaron across to Crymych and Nevern and down to Farmers, Pencader and Hermon.
This is not a Wales-wide ban, and it is not a drought ban. Welsh Water says plainly that it is not being introduced because there is a shortage of water in its reservoirs, but because sustained demand around 20 per cent above normal has outrun what two treatment works can treat and store during peak hours.
The environmental regulator in Wales is Natural Resources Wales, not the Environment Agency.