How-to Guide
Gardening During a UK Hosepipe Ban (Temporary Use Ban)
The short answer
A hosepipe ban is a Temporary Use Ban (TUB) made by your water company under the Water Industry Act 1991. It stops you using a mains-connected hosepipe to water the garden, wash the car, fill a pool or paddling pool, or clean paths and patios. It does not stop you gardening: watering with a watering can or bucket, and using rainwater from a water butt or grey water, remains allowed everywhere, and breaking a TUB can bring a fine of up to £1,000.
So the practical shift is from hose to can, and from mains to stored water. Prioritise: pots, new plantings and edibles need the water; established trees, shrubs and lawns can be left, because established plants tolerate dry spells and lawns green up again after rain. Reuse clean household grey water on ornamentals, and drought-proof over time with mulch, water-storage and drought-tolerant planting.
What a Temporary Use Ban stops and allows
The banned activities are specifically about using a hosepipe connected to the mains. Exact wording varies slightly by water company, so check your own supplier, but the core list is consistent.
- Banned by hosepipe: watering the garden, watering plants, cleaning a car or boat, filling or topping up a pool/paddling pool/pond/fountain, cleaning paths, patios, walls and windows
- Still allowed: watering with a watering can or bucket, and using water butt rainwater or grey water (including through a hosepipe from those non-mains sources)
- Usually exempt: newly planted areas for a limited period, food crops, and people on the Priority Services Register or with mobility needs (check your company's exact exemptions)
- Penalty for breaking a TUB: a fine of up to £1,000
Prioritise which plants to water
- 1Water pots and new plants first — Containers dry out fastest, and plants added in the last year have not rooted out; these need your watering-can water most.
- 2Keep edibles going — Vegetables and fruit that are cropping benefit most from steady water; focus cans here over ornamentals.
- 3Leave established plants and lawns — Established trees, shrubs and borders cope with dry spells, and lawns recover once rain returns even if they go brown, so do not spend scarce water on them.
Reuse grey water and drought-proof
Grey water (used water from baths, showers, and washing-up) can be poured onto ornamental plants and lawns; use it soon, keep it off edible parts of food crops, and avoid water with strong detergents, bleach or softeners. For the longer term, drought-proof the garden: mulch generously to hold soil moisture, install water butts to store rainwater for the next ban, water deeply and less often to build deep roots, and choose drought-tolerant plants for the driest spots.
⚠ Rules and exemptions differ between water companies. Always check your own supplier's Temporary Use Ban notice before assuming an activity is allowed.
Sources
Reviewed 2026-07-18. We cite university Extension, government, and established horticultural sources — and never invent pesticide rates or dangerous treatments.
- Thames Water — Temporary hosepipe ban legal notice — Under sections 76 and 76A-C of the Water Industry Act 1991, a Temporary Use Ban prohibits using a hosepipe to water gardens and plants, clean private vehicles or boats, fill or maintain pools, ponds and fountains, and clean paths, patios, walls and windows; customers may instead use buckets, watering cans, rainwater from butts, grey water or private boreholes, and there are specific exemptions.
- Anglian Water — Hosepipe restrictions FAQs — During a Temporary Use Ban, watering with a watering can and using water from a water butt or grey water remain permitted, and breaching a ban can result in a fine of up to £1,000.