Hose Pipe ban

[shaithis]

A large part of the ban is about getting people to think, and to change attitude.

Just a shame we cannot ban the water boards and get them to change their attitudes!

SWW prices are hideous and there have been way too many years when we have had serious water shortages due to the complete and utter incompetence of SWW.

I remember one summer they even emptied an entire reservoir into the sea....

[tomkent45]

I dont think its about the money........I am sure there are a lot of people ready to pay extra money to not suffer from the ban but what can one really do if there is no water...............And tbh this is just the beginning.. If it does not rain in the next few weeks then good luck to everyone...there will be some serious water shortage problems. Its the nature.

[Flash477]

I would say that there should be a fine for water companies having to issue hose pipe bans when they have so much water wasted in leaks in their network, however this would probably only get passed on to us anyway.

They were debating this on BBC R2 yesterday, and apparently there was one bloke who was draining his bath using a hose pipe to water the garden and was told off for it. Apparently it is just the fact that a hose pipe was used, regardless of where the water came from... stupid. However they did mention that there has not been one case that they can think of where anyone has been ever been prosicuted for using a hose pipe during a ban.

I think a major part of the problem is the water companies, and all the leaks that they know about, yet don't bother to fix!

[tomkent45]

Came across this article which gives tips on preserving water.

http://www.articleslash.com/News-and...n-England.html

The article also suggests that its better to use a bucket than hosepipe to wash your cars and garden.

[Sputnik]

I think having a water meter should be enough of an incentive to prevent most people using too much water.

I agree that water companies themselves should do more to stop the water leaks but, I have to say when I discovered a water leak in London about 2 years ago and rang Thames water they came out within 30minutes to deal with it.

[jackobyte]

I'm going to plug it into my neighbours outside tap while they are out.
And for gods sake we live on a island surrounded by the stuff.
Just how long have we lived here, and with all our technology we can't figure out how to use Desalination on larger scale,but invent something we can use cheaper or less power hungry than we have now.
Maybe if we redirected funds years ago we would have done something useful by now.

[Butcher]

It's possible for a car wash to recycle a lot of the water they use. I don't know if any actually do that though - maybe some legislation is in order? Golf courses can die if you ask me - huge waste of resources.

[Sputnik]

It's possible for a car wash to recycle a lot of the water they use. I don't know if any actually do that though

I seem to remember reading that some do.

[DDY]

Just how long have we lived here, and with all our technology we can't figure out how to use Desalination on larger scale,but invent something we can use cheaper or less power hungry than we have now.
Maybe if we redirected funds years ago we would have done something useful by now.

Desalination technology is already well established, for the UK it will be an over-engineered solution to something which can be far more easily and cheaply addressed by other means such as water recycling and water metering.

However, the UK could do with some investment on water reuse, something which we're particularly bad at compared to our European neighbours. I'd encourage anyone interested to read up on greywater recycling.

[jackobyte]

.

However, the UK could do with some investment on water reuse, something which we're particularly bad at compared to our European neighbours. I'd encourage anyone interested to read up on greywater recycling.

Thanks for article interesting reading
some extra links explaining the systems
http://www.freewateruk.co.uk/
http://www.combinedharvesters.co.uk/...?idCategory=51
http://www.greywater.com.au/greywater.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greywater

also a typical off-the-shelf single house grey water domestic collection system may cost in excess of £3,000 to purchase.

If the current climate changes for the uk continue with less and less rain fall of a substantial nature will we not risk running out of free collected or recycled water at some point
http://www.zen40267.zen.co.uk/rainfall/rainfall.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datab...-store-drought

Still glad to see we are thinking a bit more about water conservation

[Blaidd59]

I personally feel that there is also much than can be do future years too as water shortages will become more common place as the population grows.

With the need for new housing constantly in the news perhaps building companies should add water collection systems to houses as standard; after all it does not cost much to install a water butt to each new house.

The water authorities themselves should deal with leakages more rapidly and not waste millions of gallons each year through burst pipes. they are giving away little hippo's and frogs to put into toilet cisterns but not offering reduced price water collection systems which would reduce waste.
Councils could work in conjunction with their local water authority on this too; I now have recycling bins for food, glass, paper etc, but not water.

[abaxas]

Maybe if people understood what they get for their water rates, they wouldn't be so unhappy to lose something they dont actually get.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

I will ignore it and if i get a fine so be it.
If they want to drop my bill by 50% then i would think about complying, but until that point they can eff off.

this^

[Sputnik]

I will ignore it and if i get a fine so be it.
If they want to drop my bill by 50% then i would think about complying, but until that point they can eff off.

I fully understand this attitude and TBH it is right. These water companies are paid well to 'manage' water supplies and they fail to do it but, The price we pay stays the same.

I still remember a friend of mine telling someone at his local council that if they want to segregate and recycle his rubbish they were welcome to but, he refused to do the job for them for free when he pays for them to dispose of it.

[Blaidd59]

There are other things for long term planning too as this year is a taster of years to come with ever growing population and the demand for new homes more demand will be put on our water supplies.

water authorities should work with councils and along with our other recycling bins they should seriously think about water collection systems in the form of down pipe watt collection after all it is another way to recycle.

New home should be built with future droughts in mind too and have the collection systems as a part of the build would not cost much to install a water butt in each new property.

Then of course the water authorities fixing problems with damaged pipes more promptly to minimise the amount of wastage that way. mind you on that score AWA are replacing old pipes in my local area but its only a small portion of the entire town.

[Sputnik]

There is an article on Watchdog now about water leaks that have not been addressed by the water companies.