Independent comparisons. We may earn from shop links. More info

Hosepipe ban water butt: what you can still use

Updated: 22 October 2026

A temporary use ban is on your street. A hosepipe ban water butt question has a narrow answer. The ban restricts water the company supplies. Rain already in the butt is still yours to use. Filling that butt from a mains hose is not. This page stays on the rules and does not rank products. Fitting is the [how to install a water butt](/hub/garden-watering/300-litre-water-butt/sub/300-litre-water-butt-how-to-install) page. The [300 litre water butt comparison](/hub/garden-watering/300-litre-water-butt) is there if you still need to buy one. A purchase through those links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Notices move. Read the one from your own company before you rely on a sentence here.

A temporary use ban is on your street. A hosepipe ban water butt question has a narrow answer. The ban restricts water the company supplies. Rain already in the butt is still yours to use.

Our top picks

Original Organics Original Organics (STA-GN355BLK)

Best overall

Original Organics Original Organics (STA-GN355BLK)
8.1/10about £79.99
View offer
Strata Strata (Fuzz01)

Best value

Strata Strata (Fuzz01)
8.2/10about £49.99
View offer
Ward Ward (GN340)

Rank 3

Ward Ward (GN340)
8.8/10about £64.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What a temporary use ban covers
  2. 2.Rain in the butt
  3. 3.The notice is local
  4. 4.What butt water is still not for

What a temporary use ban covers

Section 76 of the Water Industry Act 1991 lets a water undertaker prohibit specified uses of the water it supplies. The prohibition is aimed at a hosepipe and at the uses the notice lists. It is not a ban on rain that fell on your roof last month. Ofwat’s explainer still allows a watering can on the mains. What you cannot do, where a ban is on, is run a hosepipe on the company’s supply for the garden. The Act does not name water butts. The butt rule comes from the undertaker’s notice.

Rain in the butt

Stored rainwater is the part the notices carve out. Thames Water’s page, updated on 12 October 2026, still allows a watering can and stored rainwater from a water butt. Its legal notice gives rainwater from a water butt through a hosepipe as an example of water that is not from the mains. You cannot paste that sentence onto another supplier. You may not top the butt up from a mains hose while the ban applies to that use. If the diverter is not fitted, the ban does not create a right to make up the difference from the tap.
Original Organics Original Organics (STA-GN355BLK)

Testsieger

Original Organics Original Organics (STA-GN355BLK)
8.1/10about £79.99
View offer

The notice is local

There is no single UK hosepipe ban. Thames Water’s notice covers its own area from 00:01 on 23 July 2026 until further notice. From 9 October 2026, Sussex restrictions remove earlier exemptions except health, safety, and welfare. Kent, Surrey, Hampshire, and Berkshire were still on the July ban with the earlier exemptions when those pages were checked. Do not generalise Sussex to the whole company. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have their own suppliers. If your bill is not Thames or South East Water, use the page on your bill.

What butt water is still not for

Ban or no ban, roof water in the butt is not drinking water, and it is not for washing food. The RHS advises against misting or sprinkling stored rain above 20°C. Use a can on the soil of established plants rather than a fine spray over leaves in a heatwave. Do not plumb the butt to the mains to keep it useful during the ban. A mains link needs an air gap and notification under the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999. If you have no butt yet, capacity and kits are on the buying guide. That page does not change what your company allows this week.

Common questions

Can I water plants from a water butt during a hosepipe ban?
Yes, where your company’s notice treats stored rain as outside the ban. Thames Water, updated on 12 October 2026, still allows stored rainwater from a water butt, and a watering can. The ban covers specified uses of the company’s supply under section 76, not rain already in the tank. Check the notice on your bill. One undertaker’s ban is not a ban for every county.
Can I run a hose from the butt?
Thames Water’s legal notice gives rainwater from a water butt through a hosepipe as water that is not from the mains. South East Water’s company page says a hosepipe on a water butt or other recycled store is not restricted. The hose must start at the butt, not at the outside tap. Sussex tightened exemptions from 9 October 2026, so read that notice if you are in Sussex before you copy the company-wide sentence.
Can I fill the butt from the outside tap while the ban is on?
No. Water from the outside tap is the company’s supply. Running a mains hose into the butt is a hosepipe use the ban is there to stop, even if you later water from the butt. Thames’s allowance is for rain already stored. It is not permission to top the tank up overnight. A watering can filled at the tap is a different action, and on the Ofwat and Thames wording it is still allowed.
Is the ban the same in every county?
No. Thames Water’s ban runs across its supply area from 00:01 on 23 July 2026 until further notice. South East Water’s Sussex area changed on 9 October 2026, with earlier exemptions removed except health, safety, and welfare. Kent, Surrey, Hampshire, and Berkshire were described as staying on the July notice. Other companies publish their own pages. If your supplier is not named here, use their notice.
What is the fine?
Section 76 makes breaking the prohibition an offence, with a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale. Ofwat describes that as up to £1,000. The “up to” is their plain-English account of the scale, not a fixed penalty printed on the Act. Guessing that a small mains top-up will not count is not a defence written into the notice.
What if my company is not Thames or South East Water?
Read that company’s notice. Section 76 is used through their wording, not through a national list of butts. This article does not state a rule for every supplier. Our notes record only that South West Water still allow a water butt, and we are not quoting a page we did not open. If no ban is published for your area, these hosepipe limits are not switched on. Ordinary water-quality limits still are.

Related pages

Best water butt in this set

300 litre water butt

300 litre water butt: what to check before you buy

How to install a water butt onto a plastic downpipe

Slimline water butt versus collapsible: which to keep

Sources

Public UK sources used for hosepipe bans, rainwater quality, storage and winter care. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk lines saved on 20 October 2026. This is not a lab test.

  1. Water Industry Act 1991 s.76 (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  2. Thames Water — temporary hosepipe ban (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  3. South East Water — Sussex hosepipe restrictions FAQ (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  4. RHS — collecting and storing water (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  5. Ofwat / Water Regs UK — rainwater case study (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  6. Water Butts Direct — winter care (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  7. Homebase — 330 litre Graf-style kit (retrieved 20.10.2026)
  8. amazon.co.uk — Ward 250 litre slimline (retrieved 20.10.2026)