THESE two pictures of Grimwith Reservoir, near Grassington, taken just four months apart, show just how the water level has dropped in a relatively short space of time.

Yorkshire Water, which owns the reservoir, will on Friday (August 26) introduce a hose-pipe ban following the lowest rainfall since its records began more than 130 years ago.

Reservoirs across the county, which last week was declared by the Environment Agency to be in a drought, are currently at below half full.

Meanwhile, the utilities company has thanked its customers for saving water as demand dropped over last weekend.

On average, water usage was down over the weekend, compared to the previous spell of hot weather in July.

Yorkshire Water says it has also stepped its leakage activity up further, as it draws on resources from teams across the business to boost the number of leaks it can find and fix. The water company currently has more than 500 people tackling leaky pipes, in a bid to save as much water as possible.

Martyn Hattersley, head of demand management at Yorkshire Water, said: “Our customers understand the challenge we’re currently facing and whilst we’re increasing efforts to save as much water as possible from leaky pipes, our customers are doing their bit to save water at home too.

“A sincere thank you to our customers for using water wisely. By reducing the amount of water used, we can help to keep as much water in reservoirs as possible and protect the environment. As the ground is incredibly dry, we would need a few months of wet weather to help them return to their usual levels, so it’s really important that people keep taking steps to save water.”

For more information on Yorkshire Water’s leakage activity, go to: https://www.yorkshirewater.com/news-media/news-articles/2022/yorkshire-water-bolsters-leakage-drive/

For more information on the hosepipe ban, go to: https://www.yorkshirewater.com/your-water/is-there-a-hosepipe-ban/

For more tips on saving water, go to: https://www.yorkshirewater.com/your-water/save-water/