PEOPLE in Shropshire are being urged to be more water-wise after the region’s provider received the highest demand for water it has ever seen in May.

New figures showed some areas across the Midlands received between five and 10 per cent of its usual rainfall in the month of May, leading to more people using water for hose pipes, jet washes, sprinklers and swimming pools.

This, coupled with the fact people have been spending more time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, means extra demand has been put on Severn Trent to provide more treated water than ever before.

Liv Garfield, chief executive officer at Severn Trent, has asked people living in the Midlands, including those in Shropshire, to cut back on non-essential water usage where possible.

She said: “We’re seeing the highest demand we’ve ever seen in our history at the moment.

“Our treatment works are already working at maximum and our pipes are carrying treated water as fast as they can to everyone, but the huge spike in demand means we’re seeing poor pressures in some areas as people use it up as fast as we can get it to them.

“We know everyone’s enjoying the sunny weather, but we’re appealing for them to cut back on non-essential use, especially outside, where they can over the next week.

“That’ll really help us keep up and make sure everyone gets the water they need for handwashing, cooking and drinking.”

Shropshire saw just 7.8mm of rainfall last month, while some areas received as little as 1mm.

There are also some areas where there was rain on just one day in the entire month.

While the company’s reservoirs remain 85 per cent full of raw water, the challenge is treating and pumping it out fast enough to meet demand.

Severn Trent’s treatment works are working flat out and producing and pumping out a staggering 2.3 billion litres of treated water each and every day.

On average, people used 20 per cent more water than normal, compared to a normal May, and some areas used as much as 40 per cent more.