Hosepipe ban

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strtdvstrtdv Frets: 2356
edited June 2018 in Off Topic
Hosepipe ban just came into effect this evening, which has made watering the garden a nuisance as I'm having to do it with watering cans. 
I don't think I was using lots of excess water with the hose anyway, so I reckon the savings there are pretty small.
I'm clearly not just going to let all the plants and the lawn die.

What irritates me is that the what had precipitated (excuse the pun) this ban is the increase in water use from about 160 litres a day to 200 litres a day, which in a population of 1.8 million is 72 million litres a day, when leaks in the mains supply accounts for over 160 million litres a day.

I don't see why I should not water my garden when NI water cant be bothered to fix their leaks.

It's the equivalent to having the fuel line leaking in my car so under hard acceleration the engine is starved of fuel, and suggesting the solution is to avoid accelerating.

Obviously leaks can't be reduced to 0, but that's 37% of our water wasted in leaks, a figure which doesn't appear to have improved since 2002. Even worse, NI water regard this as "hitting their target" as we're only wasting 161 million litres a day rather than 167 million.

(Figures from NI water public accounts publications)

We live in a country where it rains 50% of the year, surely water shortages in summer are avoidable?
Robot Lords of Tokyo, SMILE TASTE KITTENS!
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Comments

  • RockerRocker Frets: 4942
    As I understand it, a hose pipe ban means not using mains water: to water the lawn or flower beds, not washing the car, not washing the windows or external doors etc. If you have a private well or a water harvesting system, it does not apply to you. Same if you bring water from a river or lake to do those jobs. Filling a watering can from the mains is no different than using a hose pipe. IMHO of course.
    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

    Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

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  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14029
    edited June 2018 tFB Trader
    We are serviced by Severn Trent - about a week ago they told us no ban required - Plenty of water and showed a reservoir at a decent level - Such a big point was made of this no ban required that you feel there is a BUT !!!!!! - Almost like a vote of confidence in a football manager who has lost 10 on the trot

    Took the dog for a walk across the park today and starting to look like the summer of 76 now
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  • strtdvstrtdv Frets: 2356
    Rocker said:
    As I understand it, a hose pipe ban means not using mains water: to water the lawn or flower beds, not washing the car, not washing the windows or external doors etc. If you have a private well or a water harvesting system, it does not apply to you. Same if you bring water from a river or lake to do those jobs. Filling a watering can from the mains is no different than using a hose pipe. IMHO of course.
    Apparently not, it's only using a hosepipe in any of those activities, although obviously if you have your own private water supply you can do what you like.
    Robot Lords of Tokyo, SMILE TASTE KITTENS!
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  • richardhomerrichardhomer Frets: 24793
    Inevitable after a couple of weeks of hot weather in this country....
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  • DougDoug Frets: 172
    +1 @strtdv fix the F*^%$"£ leaks!!
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  • blobbblobb Frets: 2914
    edited June 2018
    Severn Trent reservoirs are at 88%, it's the service reservoirs that are starting to run low as people draw them down too fast (they can only refill at a certain rate). Then again, ST have plenty of reservoir capacity compared to the South East.

    https://www.stwater.co.uk/about-us/reservoir-levels/raw-water-storage-levels-18-june-2018/

    Last time Thames tried to build a new reservoir the locals went nuts, citing the leakage argument. The majority of Thames water leaks are underneath London, if they dig London up to fix the ageing Victorian pipes then they get grief from road users. It's a tough problem to solve - esp. with their, at times, (cough) dodgy accounting practices.

    At the end of the day, it's hot and in hot weather grass dries out. The water that people waste on keeping their lawns looking lush is good enough quality that you can feed it to your baby.

    I don't think it's too much of an ask to manage this precious resource as much as possible.

    I don't know the NI situation but I guess they are not a big enough entity to have massive resources to work with.


    Feelin' Reelin' & Squeelin'
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  • jdgmjdgm Frets: 850
    Wait until August.
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  • usedtobeusedtobe Frets: 3841
    I’m on a meter. I use what I’m prepared to pay for.
     so if you fancy a reissue of a guitar they never made in a colour they never used then it probably isn't too overpriced.

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  • Phil_aka_PipPhil_aka_Pip Frets: 9794
    Seen on the blackboard outside a pub in Maidenhead during a hosepipe ban in the late 1990s:

    "Due to the water shortage all beer will be sold at full strength"

    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
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  • 57Deluxe57Deluxe Frets: 7329
    is pissing on your plants good for them??
    <Vintage BOSS Upgrades>
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  • vasselmeyervasselmeyer Frets: 3664
    I was 8 years old in 1976, and I still remember it. This summer is beginning to feel like it. Despite all the complaints, our water system is in a much better state now than in the 1970s. It's unlikely we'll get stand pipes and bowsers. I remember having to take a bucket along to a stand pipe so we could flush the toilet once per day.
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    57Deluxe said:
    is pissing on your plants good for them??
    Depends on how hydrated you are.
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  • SimonCSimonC Frets: 1391
    57Deluxe said:
    is pissing on your plants good for them??
    As long as you’re not drinking from a hosepipe.
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  • sev112sev112 Frets: 2739
    In the past week we’ve had 2 invasions of ants - once in the bathroom (on the upstairs floor!) and once in the kitchen, both cases they appear to be looking for water- anyone ever come across this before ? 
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  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
    usedtobe said:
    I’m on a meter. I use what I’m prepared to pay for.
    Metering water is the best way to encourage thrifty usage. Since moving to an area where metering is in use (and water  expensive) I've become much more thoughtful about my use. But the real wake up call for me was spending a year in Africa and seeing young children having to carry water daily for all their domestic needs -  makes you realise how priviliged we are and how thoughtless.
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  • ronnybronnyb Frets: 1742
    Apparently it isn't because there is a shortage it's because the water companies can't supply the increased usage fast enough.
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  • DefaultMDefaultM Frets: 7271
    So now I'm paying £53 a month for water I'm not allowed to use? Nice.
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  • roundthebendroundthebend Frets: 1129
    sev112 said:
    In the past week we’ve had 2 invasions of ants - once in the bathroom (on the upstairs floor!) and once in the kitchen, both cases they appear to be looking for water- anyone ever come across this before ? 
    We've had ants in our upstairs bathroom too. Though they were more interested in the spilled Listerine mouthwash than water, it seemed.

    Doesn't look like there's a hosepipe ban for Anglian Water currently, so I'll give our back garden desert a soak this evening. 
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  • vasselmeyervasselmeyer Frets: 3664
    I know the utility companies need to get their act together to fix leaks, but the number of self-entitled pricks I've heard saying, "I pay for it so I'll use it how I want" is pissing me off.

    Use electricity as much as you want as there's rarely a shortage of that, but water is a completely different matter and it needs to be carefully conserved when we're asked.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24578
    I hate hosepipe bans. I can’t have a piss for weeks...
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