WE’RE revisiting the summer of 1976 this week as this year marks 40 years since the drought and Dorset surviving the heat of the summer.

The hosepipe ban took over the Echo’s front pages and efforts in the county to conserve water supplies.

Anyone who was around then will no doubt remember the soaring heat and drought conditions – not to mention the last time Wessex Water was forced to impose restrictions in response to the most severe water shortage in living memory.

Parts of the region went 45 days without a drop of rain, causing one of the most significant droughts since records began.

But unprecedented efforts to reduce consumption and new supply schemes meant a full-blown crisis was averted.

The root of the problems in 1976 can be traced back to the previous year. Spring rainfall in 1975 was light and the signs were that the summer would be a hot, dry one.

Wessex Water also had concerns that its ageing distribution system was not designed to meet the higher peak demands.

By June 1975 there were particular difficulties in meeting demands in Poole, west Dorset and the north coast of Somerset.

Tankers hired from the Milk Marketing Board were used to carry water to remote villages, where small spring sources were failing.

Scouring the Echo archives, Mr Humphrey Agar cropped up on July 10, 1976 on the front page as he stood to fill up containers at the Swyre standpipe Wessex Water had put in.

The article read: “Early every morning Mr Humphrey Agar drives down the Weymouth-Bridport coast road to collect water for the day from a standpipe outside the Bull Inn, Swyre.”

His wife, Irene, explained: “Our piped water comes from a hillside spring behind our home.

“The drought has reduced it to nothing more than a trickle and for the last six weeks we have had to haul in water.”

Water supplies were also under pressure from garden watering as well as extra demand caused by the influx of summer tourists, this resulted in a ban on the use of hosepipes and sprinklers in a handful of critical areas.

On July 28, 1976 the Echo reported: “A larger than usual invasion of holidaymakers is putting an extra strain on Dorset’s drought-hit water supplies. It is estimated that in the authority’s supply area the population has soured from 50,000 to 1,250,000 since the peak holiday season began.”

The hosepipe ban, together with the public’s response to a media campaign, resulted in demand being reduced which negated the need for further restrictions during the rest of the year.

Consumption in some parts of the region fell to 30 per cent of average as agricultural, industrial and domestic customers heeded the call to conserve supplies.

Bath water ended up in flower beds or was used to flush toilets, while sharing baths and showers became a popular pastime!

But the county was less impressed with a fireman using a standpipe in Portesham to take water to the heath blaze.

On July 1, 1976, the Echo reported: “Twelve fire engines had battled with the blaze since late yesterday afternoon and the narrow roads to the area were closed to traffic as tenders relayed water from neighbouring villages.

“But as the damping down operation went on this morning criticism came from Portesham residents who said firemen should not have taken precious water from village standpipes.”

Yet the driest period some parts of the country had seen in 1000 years was followed by the wettest September since 1918. In a matter of weeks Dennis Howell went from Minister for Drought to Minister for Floods and all restrictions were ready to be lifted.

Ken Roberts, chief executive for Wessex Water praised customers for saving more than 2,000 million gallons of water.