Thames Water Utilities Ltd, England’s largest water company, said it is bringing in a hosepipe ban next week following the hottest July on record.
The company, which has 15 million customers across London and the Thames Valley, will introduce the ban on August 24 for all customers - even those it does not bill directly.
It did not say how long it expects the temporary ban to last.
The ban follows a similar announcement by South West Water, which will impose a hosepipe ban on August 23 across Cornwall and a small part of Devon, and the Environment Agency’s recent declaration of drought in nine areas.
In addition to dealing with an increase in water usage due to the higher temperatures, water utilities have come under increasing criticism about the rising number of leaks with about 3 billion litres of water estimated to be lost every day.
Water companies have been accused of putting “shareholders before people”, the Times reported on Saturday. An analysis by the newspaper found that dividend payments to parent companies for the 15 water companies in England totalled £1.1bn in the past year, up almost 19% on the previous 12 months.