How Otter works
More certainty about the water where you live.
Otter turns scattered water-company notices, recent weather and local water readings into one calm answer: what is happening now, what may happen next and whether you need to do anything.
The useful difference
A warning is only useful when it changes what you do.
A reservoir percentage on its own does not tell you whether your home is affected, whether conditions are improving or whether a hosepipe ban is becoming more likely.
Otter connects the reading to your water area and explains the direction in plain English. You can plan a dry spell, protect new planting or simply stop worrying—without repeatedly checking several official websites.
From postcode to outlook
Three layers become one answer.
Your exact water area
A postcode finds the supplier and water system that actually serve your address. That matters because water boundaries rarely follow county or town lines.
What is true today
Official restriction notices and the latest accepted local reading establish the current position. The source and date always stay visible.
What may change next
Where the public evidence is strong enough, Otter shows the direction of travel so pressure can be understood before a restriction arrives.
What better warning means
Time to act without a reason to panic.
Otter separates an official ban from an early watch. If the water position begins moving towards a locally tested warning level, you can see that pressure building while there is still time to respond sensibly.
For a gardener, that could mean prioritising pots and new plants, capturing the next rainfall or delaying water-hungry planting. For everyone else, it means fewer surprises and less time spent wondering whether a headline applies to home.
- TodayOfficial status is clear
You know the current rule for your address.
- Early signalLocal pressure is building
The outlook explains the change before it becomes a ban.
- Your updateA clear next step
You know what deserves attention and what can wait.
Rain to reservoir
When does rain start refilling reservoirs?
There is no honest UK-wide number of millimetres or rainy days. What matters is where the rain falls, how dry the catchment is and how that reservoir receives water.
Rain must wet the ground first
After a dry spell, the first rain is absorbed by soil and plants. Refill becomes more likely once soils are wet enough for sustained runoff and river baseflows to recover.
Several steady wet spells beat one storm
A cloudburst can run off quickly or cause flooding without repairing a long deficit. Cooler autumn and winter rain is usually more effective because evaporation and plant demand are lower.
The route into storage is local
Some reservoirs fill from their natural catchment. Others depend on rivers, pumps, transfers and abstraction rules. That is why Otter maps the catchments and water routes around each supply system.
Designed for ordinary life
The complexity stays behind the answer.
See your current position, watering guidance and local outlook together.
Plus can send daily, every few days or weekly updates at the time you choose.
If the evidence cannot support a forecast, Otter says so instead of inventing precision.