We are heading towards the peak of the visitor season and enjoying a prolonged spell of hot weather. This means a swell in the population and increased pressure on our water supply.
We will therefore be imposing temporary restrictions on our water supply on St Mary’s throughout August.
The restrictions extend to domestic usage only so there will be no disruption to the business sector.
We will also be appealing to all businesses, residents and visitors to support our ‘Don’t Be A Waster Campaign’ and request that providers of holiday accommodation display signs prominently throughout their premises.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused and than you for your co-operation in this matter. The full extent of the restrictions are listed below:
The Council of the Isles of Scilly gives notice that it prohibits from 1st - 31st August, throughout its St Mary's area of supply, the following uses of potable water supplied by it (that is water treated to drinkable standards).
(a) Watering a garden using a hosepipe
(b) Cleaning a private motor-vehicle (or a trailer for such a vehicle) using a hosepipe
(c) Watering plants on domestic or other non-commercial premises using a hosepipe
(d) Cleaning a private leisure boat using a hosepipe
(e) Filling or maintaining a domestic swimming or paddling pool
(f) Drawing water, using a hosepipe, for domestic recreational use
(g) Filling or maintaining a domestic pond (manmade or natural) using a hosepipe
(h) Filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain (including a cascade or any other display of moving water, and includes filling by permanent plumbing)
(i) Cleaning walls, or windows, of domestic premises using a hosepipe
(j) Cleaning paths or patios using a hosepipe
(k) Cleaning other artificial outdoor surfaces using a hosepipe
Exemptions:
The following will be exempted from the restriction:
i) using a hosepipe in a garden or for cleaning walls or windows of domestic premises, paths or patios, a private leisure boat or an artificial outdoor surface, where such use is necessary for health and safety reasons;
ii) watering a garden attached to a domestic dwelling or watering plants on domestic premises using a hosepipe, by people with severe mobility problems who hold a current Blue Badge as issued by their local authority;
iii) using a hosepipe to clean a private motor vehicle, private leisure boat or walls and windows of domestic premises, where this is done as a service to customers in the course of a business;
iv) using a hosepipe to water an area of grass or outdoor artificial surfaces used for sport or recreation, where this is required in connection with a national or international sports event;
v) drip or trickle irrigation watering systems, fitted with a pressure reducing valve and a timer, that are not handheld, that place water drip by drip directly onto the soil surface or beneath the soil surface, without any surface run off or dispersion of water through the air using a jet or mist;
vi) maintaining a domestic swimming pool with a water conservation recycling system;
Definitions:
For the meaning of certain terms used in this notice and specific exceptions from the prohibitions, see the Water Use (Temporary Bans) Order 2010. Amongst other things, that Order defines:
(a) using a hosepipe to include both drawing water supplied by The Council of the Isles of Scilly at the time of the prohibition through a hosepipe from a container and also filling or partly filling a container with such water by means of a hosepipe;
(b) garden to include a park, gardens open to the public, a lawn, a grass verge, an area of grass used for sport or recreation, an allotment garden as defined in section 22(1) of the Allotments Act 1922, any area of allotment used for non-commercial purposes and any other open space; and
(c) health and safety to include removing or minimising any risk to human or animal health or safety and preventing or controlling the spread of causative agents or disease.
The topping up of an established domestic pond is also permitted if the welfare of fish in the pond is at risk.
For the purposes of the prohibitions relating to the use of a hosepipe, the prohibitions apply whether or not any device such as a sprinkler is attached to the hosepipe.
Council of the Isles of Scilly, Town Hall, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly TR21 0LW