Shower? Better to cool off with a wet towel, say the water bosses
- One of the "ridiculous" pieces of advice is to use oak barrels for the non-existent rain collection
- Customers are also advised to wipe with a cloth instead of taking a shower.
- During this time, dog owners have to wash their pets in the residual water in the paddling pool.
- Bans on garden hoses introduced as 3.113 million liters of water are lost through leaks every day
Water companies have been accused of giving customers "ridiculous" advice to deal with the worst drought since 1976, including using oak barrels to catch rain that wasn't there and putting their feet up instead of cleaning the car. .
Other tips include checking out an online playlist of pop songs that is four minutes long, the maximum time people are advised to shower.
Critics slammed the "stupid" advice that was emailed or given to customers following the ban on garden hoses to cope with dwindling water supplies and the extraordinary heatwave.
Thames Water suggests drying off with a towel instead of cooling off, washing dogs with leftover water from the paddling pool and relaxing on the sofa instead of cleaning the car.
The company, owned by a consortium of foreign interests, advises: "From oak barrels to clay pots, there's something for everyone.
Meanwhile, Southern Water, which has imposed a ban on garden hoses in parts of Hampshire and Sussex, is suggesting customers challenge themselves to finish a shower in the time it takes to listen to a four-minute song between a list of songs.
The ban on garden hoses, introduced last week, comes as 8.3 million gallons of water are lost every day through holes in the country's 215,000 miles of pipe network and industry leaders are being paid millions of dollars in salaries.
Severn Trent Water, whose boss Liv Garfield made almost £4million last year, wastes 425million liters of water every day.
The company advises families not to fill children's pools to the brim to conserve water.
Lib Dem MPs are calling on the Government to ban further rebates until leaking infrastructure is fixed, after an analysis by The Mail last Sunday which showed the biggest water companies handed over £50m to bosses.
Tim Farron, spokesman for the party's Rural Affairs said: "It is outrageous that water company executives reward themselves with bonuses and don't even bother to fix leaks while millions suffer from hose bans."
We Own It's Cat Hobbs, who advocates for water companies to go public, said: "Are companies competing to give the dumbest advice? Who has an oak barrel when rain could fill it? The hypocrisy of the "water companies" is unbelievable.
"They say every drop is valuable, but our privatized water companies lose billions of liters of water every day through leaks."
"That's because they prioritize paying shareholders and CEOs over fixing leaks."
The "Drought Advice" follows last winter's equally ridiculous advice from the energy companies.
SSE Energy Services urged customers to stargaze, hug their pets and eat oatmeal to stay warm.
A Thames Water spokesman said: "We have no way of knowing how long this very dry weather will last so we need to plan carefully."
"Customers can really help us with this long-term planning by using water wisely."
A Water UK spokesman said: "Water companies are committed to radically reducing spills.
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