Crowborough hosepipe ban: 11 banned uses, £1,000 fine

Crowborough has been under a hosepipe ban since 00:01 on 25 July, and there is still no date for it ending. Breaking it is a criminal offence carrying a fine of up to £1,000 on summary conviction.

South East Water supplies the drinking water for Crowborough and the rest of Wealden. Southern Water handles sewerage. (Wealden District Council, community resilience)

The 11 things you cannot do with a hosepipe

South East Water’s statutory notice was made under sections 76 and 76A to 76C of the Water Industry Act 1991. It prohibits, across its Sussex and West region of supply:

• watering a garden
• cleaning a private motor vehicle or its trailer
• watering plants on domestic or other non-commercial premises
• cleaning a private leisure boat
• filling or maintaining a domestic swimming or paddling pool
• drawing water for domestic recreational use, such as hot tubs
• filling or maintaining a domestic pond, manmade or natural
• filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain, including by permanent plumbing
• cleaning the walls or windows of domestic premises
• cleaning paths or patios
• cleaning other artificial outdoor surfaces

A “hosepipe” is defined as anything designed, adapted or used to serve the same purpose. That catches sprinklers, irrigation systems and pressure washers connected to the mains. (South East Water statutory notice for temporary use ban, Sussex and West)

What is still allowed

You do not need to apply for an exemption, though the company says it may question your use of one. The notice exempts:

• anyone on South East Water’s Priority Services Register who would find it hard to adapt
• unavoidable health and safety use, and anything needed for the welfare of animals, including fish
• a hosepipe fed from a water butt or another recycled water storage system
• watering grass or artificial surfaces used for sport or recreation, on the playing area only, outside the peak hours of 8am to 10am and 5pm to 9pm
• drip or trickle irrigation with a pressure reducing valve and a timer, not handheld, watering directly onto or beneath the soil
• watering a newly laid lawn for its first 28 days, again outside those peak hours
• vehicle cleaning done as a business service, and commercial or goods vehicles
• plants grown for sale or commercial use

Watering cans are not restricted.

Why Sussex was put under restrictions

South East Water gives two reasons for the Sussex ban. The level of the River Cuckmere meant it had to pause taking water from it. That pushed Arlington Reservoir down to the point at which its Drought Plan requires restrictions. The company also says the area has received only 55% of its average rainfall since March. (South East Water, hosepipe restrictions in all areas)

Kent went first, on 3 July. Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire followed on 25 July. The company notes that Kent and Sussex have now had restrictions in three of the last five years, while Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire had not had them since 2012.

The South East is now in drought

The Environment Agency’s briefing for 7 to 13 August, published on 14 August, moved the remaining parts of Kent, and of the Solent and South Downs area that covers East Sussex, from prolonged dry weather to drought. Every Environment Agency area in the South East is now classed as in drought, and 71% of England by land area.

The figures behind that:

• England received 4mm of rain in the first part of August, 6% of the long-term average. In east and south-east England it was 1%.
• Reservoir storage across England was 65.9% on 11 August, down 3.1% in a week, against a long-term average of 79.7% for the time of year.
• Only 5 of the river flow sites the agency reports on were normal for the time of year. Fifteen were exceptionally low.
• Eight water companies have restrictions in place. South East Water’s covers its whole company area. More than 27 million people are affected nationally.

(Environment Agency, Dry weather and drought in England: 7 to 13 August 2026)

What it means for you

• The ban is open-ended. No end date has been published. South East Water’s drought plan links restrictions to reservoir and river levels, not to a calendar, so it will run until supplies recover.
• Check the Priority Services Register if adapting is genuinely hard for you. Registration is free and the exemption is applied automatically, with notification, rather than on request.
• A water butt gets you your hosepipe back, for any of the restricted uses, because recycled water is outside the ban.
• Sports clubs are not shut out. Pitches and artificial surfaces can be watered outside the two peak windows, but only the playing area, not the whole grounds.
• Filling a paddling pool from the mains is on the banned list. If you are looking for somewhere to cool off instead, see our guide to things to do in Crowborough.

Report a leak or check your own supply position with South East Water directly. A leak on the network is the company’s to fix; a leak on your own supply pipe is not.