Angry Horsham woman brands sprinkler use during heatwave ‘ridiculous’

Highwood resident Sam Pepperell said sprinklers have been running all summer on the newly built estate – leaving the road ‘absolutely drenched’.

The 51-year-old said: “There are sprinklers going most of the time. There’s water all coming down the road. It’s just annoying.

“Southern Water are asking people to use water sparingly, washing, drinking and cooking only. Why are they still watering? It’s not on.”

Ahead of the heatwave – which saw a Horsham District hamlet recorded as the hottest place in the whole of the UK on Saturday August 8 – Southern Water shared water-saving tips to help ease the demand on the area’s supply.

Sam added that it was ‘really frustrating’ to see water being used to make the estate look nice.

She slammed the move as ‘ridiculous’ and an ‘unacceptable waste of water’.

Sam said developers Berkley Homes said they would stop the sprinklers for five days from Thursday, August 13, but on Friday morning the sprinklers were still running.

A Berkeley Homes (Southern) spokeswoman said the firm was not ‘informed directly’ by Southern Water about guidance regarding water usage.

She added: “However, we were made aware of the guidance that had been sent to homeowners by our managing agents. We immediately implemented a watering suspension to all of our developments.

“If there were any watering hoses in use after receiving this communication, they were operated without the approval of Berkeley Homes (Southern).

“We have reiterated the watering suspension to all of our managing agents and contractors on all of our affected sites until further notice.”