WATER restrictions may be needed in Wales if there is no significant rainfall over the next month, Dwr Cymru has warned.

Rainfall across Wales this year has been around half the long-term average and with extra demand this week due to record-breaking temperatures, Welsh Water has warned that some restrictions may need to be put in place if there is no significant rainfall between now and the end of August.

While the sun shone over Wales on Monday, Welsh Water saw demand for water from its customers soar – reaching the same levels seen at the peak of the 2018 heatwave.

On a typical day, the company normally treats and supplies around 850 mega litres of fresh water to its three million customers.

This is roughly the same amount of water needed to fill around 320 Olympic sized swimming pools. On Monday the company saw this level exceed 1,000 mega litres.

A Welsh Water spokesperson said: “This extra demand makes it a challenge to get water through the pipes fast enough and also drains the water quicker from the reservoirs and rivers that supply the water.

“This is especially important as between March and April, rainfall across Wales was only 50 per cent of the long term average while between March and May it was just 60 per cent.

“While water resources in the majority of Wales are in a good position, there is a slight concern about the situation in Pembrokeshire.

“While this shouldn’t have any immediate impact, if the there is no significant rain between now and the end of August, some level of restriction may be required later in the summer.

“To keep up with the demand, the company has had to ramp up its operations to ensure that it keeps the water flowing for customers.”

In order to save water, customers are advised to turn the tap off when washing hands or brushing teeth, take a shower instead of a bath, wait until the washing machine or dishwasher is full before using and not use sprinklers on their lawns.

Ian Christie, Managing Director of Water Services said: “I’m sure we’ve all been enjoying this warm weather and as a company we always see an increase in demand for water when the sun shines. “Peaks in demand normally only last a short period but with these unprecedented temperatures we’re seeing a sustained period of increase in demand. It was no surprise that we saw the demand reach 1,000 mega litres per day on Monday.

“Meeting spikes in demand naturally brings with is some additional challenges for the company and people will have seen our teams out and about to make sure that we keep the water flowing. While we will do all that we can, it will help us as well if customers play their part as well by avoiding wasting water.

“Garden sprinklers for example are one of the biggest consumers of water in the garden as they use on average 1,000 litres of water every hour. This is the equivalent of what a typical family would use inside the house in two days. By avoiding using sprinklers, or investing in a water butt to collect rain water, people could use significantly less water.

“Another way customers can help is by reporting any leaks to us which they may notice so that we can get a team out straight away to look at it. By working together in this way, we can help ensure that we keep the water flowing through the summer”.