In the mid-1990s, Britain faced severe shortages

Yet one group who can afford to be quietly satisfied are the water companies who, less than four years ago, were grappling with the effects of drought.

Reservoirs and aquifers - underground watercourses - are full to the brim in many areas, thanks to the unseasonably wet weather.

With a few days of November still to go, a record average of 457mm of rain has fallen over the September to November autumn period. It follows a damp summer and the wettest April on record.

The figures are in stark contrast to the rainfall count in the mid to late 1990s, when Britons were forced to deal with summer hose-pipe bans and drinking water shortages.

Plugging the leaks

In 1994, 228 litres per property lost through leaks In 1998/9, 154 litres per property lost through leaks

The years 1995 and 1996 were the driest in England and Wales since reliable records began. Throughout much of the 1990s, overall levels of groundwater - water found in soil - were the lowest since around the start of the century.

Today it's a very different picture. According to the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, groundwater levels are at a maximum over wide areas of the UK.

The danger now is that all the hard work put into educating users about conservation could easily unravel.

The tide is high

"All the water resources are in an excellent situation across the country," says Graham Setterfield, director of Water UK, which represents all the water suppliers.

Perhaps taking water conservation to the extreme

"It puts water companies in an excellent position for the future. The worry is that it can get [users] to take their eye off the ball."

While there is a clear incentive for businesses to cut back on water use, since they pay per unit, there is still a battle to win over individuals. Twenty percent of water supplied in the UK is used in homes, but most households are still charged a flat rate.

Ted Casey, educational studies manager with Three Valleys Water in south-east England, knows first-hand how difficult it is to get the message across in the current climate.

His job is to take the message about water conservation to school classrooms.

Drowned out

"I've been to schools recently where they literally could not hear me speak because of the rain falling on the roof and I'm saying: 'Children, you need to be careful of how much water you use'."

The worry is that while there are plentiful supplies of fresh water at the moment, it wouldn't take much for rationing to return.

Home use

The average washing machine uses 65 litres of fresh water per cycle

A dry winter and spring could spell problems for later next year warns Ian Barker, head of the Environment Agency's water conservation team.

Mr Barker admits that with many parts of the country on serious flood alert, this is neither an "appropriate or sensible time to talk about water management".

"Climate change means you have greater variability in weather patterns. More extremes mean you could get drought as well as wetter weather.

"The most important message is to help people understand it will not always be like this."

Same message, new approach

Those involved in conservation insist their core message remains the same. But they have to find new ways of getting it across.

The message from the water companies

"We will have to alter our message to make it relevant," says Paul Woodcock, head of water quality at Anglian Water.

Campaigning charity Going for Green is already planning for its water conservation week, in July next year. Public education manager Christine Rice recognises it could be an uphill battle.

"This is something we've been wrestling with very hard in recent weeks. When we start promoting it in somewhere like York, which has been badly hit by the floods, we will get a lot of funny looks," says Ms Rice.

"People are going to remember the flooding and say: 'Why are we doing this?' But if, by July, we've had 12 or 13 weeks of baking weather it will be very important to conserve. We will continue to get our message across in spite of blips like the recent flooding."