Thames Water Seeking Restrictions On 5 Million London Customers - Reuters

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LONDON - Britain's Thames Water said it would seek special powers to limit the use of water by 5 million customers in London to cope with a drought in southern England.

If the British government grants its application, the country's biggest water firm would gain the right to restrict a range of water usage from washing cars to watering public parks. A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said no date had been set for the application to be considered. The process will probably take several weeks, he added.

The government's Environment Agency says southeast England is facing the most severe drought in the last 100 years. Southern England is most at risk because of increased demand from its high population, below-average rainfall in recent years and reliance on water from depleted boreholes.

Thames Water, owned by German utility RWE, said on Friday that, despite the wettest May in 27 years, groundwater levels are still low and the threat of water shortages remains. "We simply don't know how much rain we will get in the rest of the summer," Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Pelczer said in a statement. "If the weather is unusually hot and dry, we will need to restrict water use more."

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