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Hosepipe ban in Norfolk: what is banned, the exemptions and the fine
Practical Guides

Hosepipe ban in Norfolk: what is banned, the exemptions and the fine

Anglian Water's hosepipe ban has covered most of Norfolk since 11 July 2026. Great Yarmouth and Gorleston are under Essex & Suffolk Water's own ban, which started on 3 August.

Tom Fletcher
By Tom Fletcher Property and Relocation Editor Jul 11, 2026 · Updated Oct 1, 2026
12 min read

Yes, the hosepipe ban is still on across Norfolk, and no end date has been set. Anglian Water’s temporary use ban, the legal name for a hosepipe ban, came into force at 1.01am on Saturday 11 July 2026, and the company says the restrictions will stay until water resources have recovered enough. Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and the villages around them get their water from Essex & Suffolk Water instead, and that company’s own ban, which started at 00:01 on Monday 3 August 2026, is also still in place. Both were in force when we checked the two companies’ websites on 1 October 2026. Breaking either can lead to a fine of up to £1,000.

How long it lasts depends on rain over the autumn and winter. Anglian Water told a Norfolk County Council meeting on 11 September that the ban would run "well into the autumn, maybe even the winter".

Last checked: 1 October 2026.

The ban right now

Anglian Water’s restrictions page, checked on 24 September 2026, says much of its region is still in drought and that rivers, reservoirs and underground sources are still below normal despite recent rain. The restrictions will stay until water resources have recovered and conditions are closer to normal. The company says water use fell by around 9% when the ban began and has stayed around 5% below what it would normally expect since.

Essex & Suffolk Water said on 3 September that no set amount of rain would lift its ban. It looks at reservoir levels, river flows, groundwater and soil moisture. Rainfall in its area was 3% of the long-term average in July and 34% in August.

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Who the ban covers

Anglian Water supplies drinking water across eight counties: Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire and Suffolk. Its ban covers every customer it supplies except those in Hartlepool. In Norfolk that means most of the county, including Norwich, King’s Lynn, Thetford, Wymondham, Dereham, Fakenham, Attleborough, North Walsham, Cromer, Sheringham, Hunstanton, Diss, Swaffham and Downham Market.

Essex & Suffolk Water supplies Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and the nearby villages, and Lowestoft across the Suffolk border. Its ban is its first since 1997. The same list of banned uses applies, because both bans are made under the same law, but the exceptions are different, and they are set out below.

If you are not sure which company supplies you, the name is on your water bill, or you can search your postcode on Water UK’s find-your-supplier tool. Water from your own supply, such as a private borehole, is not restricted. Cambridge Water and Affinity Water also brought in bans this summer, but neither supplies Norfolk.

Norwich, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk: essential use only

Anglian Water has asked for more in two parts of the county. On 12 August it asked customers in Norwich and the surrounding area to use water only for essential purposes, which it listed as drinking, cooking, washing and cleaning. It said flows in the River Wensum, which supplies Norwich, were among the lowest for the time of year since records began in the 1960s. On 19 August it made the same request in King’s Lynn, Fenland and West Norfolk because of low flows in the Rivers Nar and Wissey. Its restrictions page still carries the request. This is a request, not a legal restriction; the fine applies only to breaking the ban itself.

What the ban stops you doing

The uses a water company can ban are set by section 76 of the Water Industry Act 1991, in the form substituted by section 36 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. Both Norfolk bans use all eleven:

  • Watering a garden using a hosepipe.
  • Cleaning a private motor vehicle using a hosepipe.
  • Watering plants on domestic or non-commercial premises using a hosepipe.
  • Cleaning a private leisure boat using a hosepipe.
  • Filling or maintaining a domestic swimming pool or paddling pool.
  • Drawing water using a hosepipe for domestic recreational use, such as filling a hot tub.
  • Filling or maintaining a domestic pond using a hosepipe.
  • Filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain.
  • Cleaning walls or windows of domestic premises using a hosepipe.
  • Cleaning paths or patios using a hosepipe.
  • Cleaning other artificial outdoor surfaces using a hosepipe.

Anything connected to the mains and used for the same job counts as a hosepipe. Anglian Water names sprinklers and pressure washers, and says sprinklers, misters and spray irrigation should not be used at all. Essex & Suffolk Water names pressure washers, sprinklers and irrigation systems.

What you can still do

Water indoors is not affected. Outside, under Anglian Water’s rules, you can:

  • Water the garden and vegetables with a watering can or bucket filled from the tap.
  • Use water from a water butt, or other collected or recycled water, however you like.
  • Wash the car by hand with a bucket.
  • Run a drip or trickle irrigation system, provided it has a timer and a pressure-reducing valve, is not handheld and delivers water straight to the soil or roots.
  • Fill a paddling pool or hot tub with a bucket or other handheld container.
  • Pay a business to clean your car, windows, walls, paths or patio; commercial cleaning is exempt.
  • Fill a caravan or motorhome tank for washing, cooking and sanitation.

Sports pitches and other recreational playing surfaces can be watered when necessary, outside the peak hours Anglian Water has set: 8am to 10am and 5pm to 9pm.

Pools are where the two companies differ most. Essex & Suffolk Water says every banned activity can still be done with a bucket or watering can except two: filling a swimming or paddling pool and filling an ornamental fountain. In the Great Yarmouth area you cannot fill a domestic pool from the mains by any method while its ban lasts.

Exemptions

Nobody has to apply. If an exception covers you, you can use a hosepipe for that purpose without contacting the water company. Anglian Water’s exceptions cover:

  • Priority Services Register customers who cannot safely use a watering can or bucket, or cannot make reasonable adjustments, because of a health condition or disability.
  • Use needed to protect human health and safety.
  • Animal welfare, including pets, livestock and fish.
  • A hosepipe connected to a water butt or other recycled supply in place of the mains.
  • Compliant drip or trickle irrigation.
  • Where a watering can is not practical: newly laid turf and newly sown grass seed for the first 28 days, trees, hedges and saplings planted in the last planting season, and food crops grown at home or on a private allotment.
  • Business and commercial uses, and religious practices.

Anglian Water says a Blue Badge on its own does not mean an exception applies; being physically unable to use a watering can or bucket safely does. Essex & Suffolk Water is more generous. Blue Badge holders are exempt, and so are people with reduced mobility who cannot use a watering can but do not have a Blue Badge. Its exceptions also cover newly laid turf for 28 days, ponds with fish in them, and boats that are someone’s main home.

The fine

Breaking the ban is a criminal offence. Under section 76(5) of the Water Industry Act 1991, the penalty on summary conviction is a fine of up to level 3 on the standard scale, which is £1,000. The courts impose it and the money goes to the Treasury, not the water company.

Anglian Water says its approach is education, with fines only in serious or repeated cases, and that its staff may remind people of the rules when they are out and about. Both companies take reports of misuse through their websites. Anglian Water points out that the person with the hosepipe may be covered by an exception.

Why the ban came in

Anglian Water brought in its ban after months of dry weather and record demand. On the hottest days this year, it says, water use went up by almost 400 million litres a day, and the BBC reported a 30% increase in use when the ban was announced. Dr Geoff Darch, the company’s head of strategic asset planning, said "the unrelenting conditions are placing the environment and water supplies under increasing strain".

The company says it had repaired 7,084 leaks by the end of June, with 245 people working on leakage, including 110 two-person repair teams, and uses more than 130,000 acoustic leak sensors a year. Its point is that even fixing every leak would not cover the extra water used on hot days.

The Environment Agency declared Norfolk to be in drought on 29 July. East Anglia was the driest region of the UK in the Met Office’s 1991-2020 averages, and this year was drier still. Anglian Water’s region had 3% of its usual July rainfall. It normally gets about 630mm of rain a year and had had 270mm by the end of August.

If you have just moved to Norfolk

Plan the garden for dry summers. Water butts, drip irrigation that meets the rules above and planting that copes without watering all keep working during a ban. Anglian Water notes that after the dry spring and summer of 2025 not all of its sources returned to normal levels, so this year’s ban did not come out of nowhere.

If you are buying a house with a pool, check who supplies the water. Under Anglian Water’s rules you can still fill it by bucket, which is slow; under Essex & Suffolk Water’s you cannot fill it from the mains at all.

If you keep a boat on the Broads, washing it down with a hose at the mooring is banned. Anglian Water still allows a hosepipe for cleaning inside the boat and for commercial boat cleaning. Essex & Suffolk Water also allows it for a boat that is your main home, to deal with fouling that raises fuel use, and to stop invasive species spreading.

When it might end

No date has been set. Anglian Water says rivers, reservoirs and groundwater need sustained rain over a long period, usually through the autumn and winter, and that rain on hard, dry ground runs off rather than soaking in. In a blog post on 27 August it estimated that about 100mm of rain would be needed across its region just to bring the ground back to normal saturation, before sources could start to refill. After the late-August storms it said recovery would need "a long and sustained period of rain".

At the same council meeting, the Anglian Water representative said it would take "several more downpours and consistent rain" to recharge supplies. The Environment Agency has said it will take more than a few weeks of wet weather to end the drought in Norfolk. Essex & Suffolk Water says it will need sustained wetter weather over the coming months before it can review its restrictions.

For the current position, go to the two companies’ own pages, linked below. They change before the news reports do.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a hosepipe ban in Norfolk?

Yes. Anglian Water’s ban has been in force since 11 July 2026 and Essex & Suffolk Water’s, which covers the Great Yarmouth area, since 3 August 2026. Both were still in place on 1 October 2026.

Does the ban cover Norwich, Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn?

Yes, all three. Norwich and King’s Lynn are under Anglian Water’s ban and are also being asked to use water for essential purposes only. Great Yarmouth is under Essex & Suffolk Water’s ban, which exempts Blue Badge holders.

Does the ban cover the whole of Norfolk?

Every home on the mains in Norfolk is under one of the two bans. Anglian Water’s covers most of the county and Essex & Suffolk Water’s covers Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and the villages around them. Water from a private borehole is not restricted.

Can I still water my vegetable patch?

Yes, with a watering can, water from a water butt or a drip system with a timer and pressure-reducing valve. Anglian Water also allows a hosepipe for food crops grown at home or on an allotment where a watering can is not practical.

What about a pressure washer or jet wash?

A pressure washer on the mains counts as a hosepipe, so you cannot use one on your car, drive, patio, walls or boat. A cleaning business working for you can.

Are there any exceptions I qualify for?

Possibly. Anglian Water’s cover health and disability through the Priority Services Register, health and safety, animal welfare, recycled water, drip irrigation, new turf and planting, and business use. You do not need to apply.

Is there a Blue Badge exemption to the hosepipe ban?

From Essex & Suffolk Water, yes. From Anglian Water, not automatically: an exception applies if you are physically unable to use a watering can or bucket safely because of a health condition or disability, whether or not you have a Blue Badge. Anglian Water suggests joining its Priority Services Register, which you can do through MyAccount.

Is the ask different if I live in Norwich?

Yes. Because the River Wensum is so low, Anglian Water asks Norwich households and businesses to use water only for essential purposes; it asks the same in King’s Lynn, West Norfolk and the Fens because of the Nar and Wissey. That is a request, and the fine applies only to breaking the ban.

How is the ban enforced?

Through reports from the public, which both companies take online, and in serious or repeated cases through the courts. A court can fine up to £1,000, and the fine goes to the Treasury.

How long will the ban last?

No end date has been set. On 11 September Anglian Water said the ban would last well into the autumn and possibly the winter, and both companies say it will take sustained rain over months, not a few wet days.

Sources

Last checked against Anglian Water’s and Essex & Suffolk Water’s own pages on 1 October 2026.

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