Guernsey Water has confirmed that – unless something drastic happens – it won’t be enforcing water restrictions this summer, but we are still asked to be mindful about our water usage.
The utility shared its latest water collection and usage stats on Monday, just hours before the heavens opened and the island was soaked during a storm on Tuesday morning.
However, despite that rainfall, nothing has changed with regard to the island’s drinking water supply because it will take a while for the rain water to filter through to the reservoirs and be ready for use.
With the island’s water stocks remaining lower than what Guernsey Water would like to see, the utility is still asking us all to make “voluntary reductions” to limit our water usage, including things like not watering the garden, and keeping showers short.
On Monday this week, Guernsey Water said that August had been “bone dry” so far – with just 0.8mm of rainfall in the first 18 days of the month, compared to the average of 32mm we usually have.
During the two weeks between 4 and 18 August the island had collectively used 182 million litres of water, while Guernsey Water had collected 33 million litres, leaving a deficit of 149 million litres.
“We’re collecting every litre we can – but when it’s not raining, there’s only so much we can do,” said Guernsey Water. “That’s why this is a team effort and we’re asking you to remember that every litre you don’t use is another in our reservoirs, chipping away at that deficit.”
Guernsey Met confirmed that the rainfall during the morning of Tuesday 19 August was the “first measurable rainfall” since earlier this month, with 5.6mm of rain falling during the thunderstorm.
The Met Office’s weather data is collected on a 24 hour basis between 09:00 and 09:00 meaning the thunderstorm was officially recorded as part of the weather data for Monday 18 August.
There had been no rain in the 12 hours preceding the storm, which started at around 05:00 on Tuesday morning, meaning the entire 5.6mm recorded at Guernsey Airport in the 24 hours until 09:00 yesterday was during the storm.
“This was the first measurable rainfall since 4 August, where 0.8mm was recorded, but we did have several days in between where a ‘trace’ was recorded, which is when there is rainfall but not enough to measure,” added the Met spokesperson.