West Midlands football fans send water demand soaring during England game
Severn Trent say they saw a surge in water usage during the England v Mexico game
Last updated 7th Jul 2026
Football fans across the Severn Trent region used an extra 1.54 million litres of water during England’s World Cup win over Mexico on the weekend.
The surge was presumably caused by fans making cups of tea and coffee, as well as a rush of toilet flushes, the water company says.
Severn Trent engineers worked through the night to keep supplies running as demand jumped between 2am and 4am.
In Birmingham, water use peaked at an extra 160 litres a second at half-time, and more than 233 litres a second when the final whistle blew.
In Wolverhampton, demand increased by an extra 43 litres a second at half-time and more than 95 litres a second at full-time.
The company is now preparing for another rise in water use when England face Norway on Saturday night (11 July).
Severn Trent Network Operations Lead Howard Perry said: “What a game and what a clear sign that many of us stayed up, or set out alarms, to watch the early morning game at Mexico’s Azteca Stadium.
“Demand at that time on a Monday morning is usually much steadier but we experienced much higher than usual demand with two clear spikes – at half-time and immediately after full-time.
“I would like to thank all Severn Trent team working through the night to help keep the taps running during such peaks in demands.”