THE hosepipe ban that has been in place for three months in St Albans has finally been lifted following “unprecedented rainfall,” according to Veolia.

The water supply company announced the lifting of the temporary ban with effect from Monday July 9 which means that customers can now use hosepipes again.

Veolia introduced the ban on April 5, after two consecutive autumn and winter periods of below average rainfall, which left much of the south east in drought conditions.

However water resources manager Mike Pocock said that with Veolia taking most of its water from natural underground chalk reservoirs, aquifers, it takes “weeks” for water to permeate through soil and rocks.

He added: “It must be stressed that groundwater levels still remain lower than normal, so we are asking our customers to continue to use water wisely.

“We will need prolonged and substantial rainfall, particularly during the next autumn and winter period to restore our groundwater to normal levels.

“A third dry autumn and winter would make a hosepipe ban next year a possibility.”

The combination of the ban and significant rainfall since April resulted in a reduction in demand for water of about seven per cent.

Veolia has also reduced leakage by over 20 million litres per day.