Hosepipe Ban - Right or Wrong?

cambsno

cambsno

Suspended / Banned
Messages
20,999
Name
Simon
Edit My Images
Yes
Have to say, wrong, and I think the water companies are wrong to tell us to not use pipes and to be proud of our brown grass and dirty cars. Why?

Water rates are not cheap, and if you are on a water meter you pay for what you use. Also, many other countries with less rain manage fine but then they probably don't leak so much water. Maybe get your own house in order? Fair enough if they ban pipes but then reduce rates significantly but I spend money on keeping my lawn looking nice do want to water it. They are also resurfacing pavements and road outside my house so will be needing to use pressure washer to clean the windows and surrounds.

Am I the only one who thinks like this?
 
Doubt you're the only one who think like this but I'd disagree. Is a dirty car a major issue? no. Is grass a major issue? No. No clean drinking water at all would be an issue, and that's what you'd be facing soon enough if everyone continued the way they do.
 
neil_g said:
well that depends, some contaminents can harm the paintwork on a car.
Click to expand...

Bird poo for example. Sure we need drinking water but firstly how do the likes of Spain cope, and secondly we would have enough water if the water companies stopped wasting it.
 
You can get an 8 litre hand pump jet wash on ebay for around £18, max pressure of 40PSI should be enough to clean a car. I generally give the car a good wash polish and a couple of coats of decent wax, then keep a bottle of detailing spray in the boot to remove any birds leave a calling card.
 
2 buckets of water ample to wash my 5 series touring and if I wanted/needed to water a garden would have a water butt ( I know it would not have much in because of little rain but every little helps) would rather not run out of fresh water.

Would also like the water companies to get a grip on the number of leaks and gas/ electric prices to be cheaper, don't even mention petrol ;)

If the powers that be deam it right then will agree with it.
 
We had hosepipe bans and other water restrictions in Joburg a few years ago, when the dams were very low, but this was expected - the winters were bone dry and we often went for months without any rain at all. Bit different in SW Scotland where it never seems to stop raining and flood warnings are quite common!
 
fabs said:
I used to live in a maisonette where we didn't have any outside taps. Still managed to clean the car though. Just had to fill a watering can from the kitchen a couple of times, rinsed it off fine. You don't have to use a hosepipe to clean a car.
Click to expand...

or go down the jetwash/carwash which dont apply to the ban :lol:
 
neil_g said:
or go down the jetwash/carwash which dont apply to the ban :lol:
Click to expand...

Jetwash yes, carwash never, not if you value the paintwork. Living in a flat myself, I can't use a hose pipe or jetwsh at home, so if the car is really dirty, I'll go to local jetwash to get worst of dirt off, won't even use the brush, then I'll go backhome and do the job properly, one bucket for shampoo, other to rinse the microfibre mitt clean. Then refill the two buckets and watering can with fresh water to rinse the car off before the all important polishing and waxing process.
 
If they fixed all the leaks in the piping we wouldn't have this issue, i've heard the pipes leakseveral times the amount of water that we actually use
 
think in the uk alone they lose something like 3 billion litres a day due to crappy pipes and leaks, but repairing many is "too expensive"

Hmmm..........
 
When we have had hose pipe bans in the past it has included our local car & jet wash but as I never really was my cars it's not been a problem for me lol

But having said that I will be taking delivery of a brand new galaxy in June and as it will be black I'm thinking I may need to wash this one :-)
 
hglossop said:
If they fixed all the leaks in the piping we wouldn't have this issue, i've heard the pipes leakseveral times the amount of water that we actually use
Click to expand...

There's over ten thousand miles of water pipe in London alone, I think about eighty thousand miles in the UK as a whole? most of it at high pressure, you take your choice, put up with a hosepipe ban or pay to have them dig up all those miles of pipe to replace them.
 
Steep said:
There's over ten thousand miles of water pipe in London alone, I think about eighty thousand miles in the UK as a whole? most of it at high pressure, you take your choice, put up with a hosepipe ban or pay to have them dig up all those miles of pipe to replace them.
Click to expand...

Why should we have to pay for them to keep their service running efficiently? The purpose of privatising it in the first place was to remove the financial burden from the public purse.
 
Must be wasting quite a lot of money on treating water and pumping it through pipes though, just to have most of it go straight back into the ground. Although yes it is clearly too expensive to fix the problem
 
TriggerHappy said:
Why should we have to pay for them to keep their service running efficiently? The purpose of privatising it in the first place was to remove the financial burden from the public purse.
Click to expand...

Who do you expect to pay for it then?:shrug:

Sorry if I've missed the point but if you use a product or service then unfortunately you have to pay for it.

I do agree however, that a lot of water companies need to invest more into fixing leaks and less into lining their own and their share holders pockets!
 
When you shower/bath just syphon the water at the end into buckets and throw onto your garden for the grass?, not going to comment on whether its right or wrong cause it's not going to affect me here, bloomin' raining again now.
 
H.J.H said:
Sorry if I've missed the point but if you use a product or service then unfortunately you have to pay for it.
Click to expand...

But the problem is that we can't use the service fully now due to the lack of efficiency in the infrastructure.

Is it not reasonable to expect them to run an efficient infrastructure that doesn't leak all over the place? In the end in means less water is available for use resulting in bans and us having to pay higher water rates due to the amount they spend on wasted water.
 
Make provisions :thumbs: get hold of one of those big square chemical containers that has been cleaned out. 1000 ltrs, which is 1 Cubic Ton of water, catch the rain that comes via your gutter and hey presto! :D More than enough to keep your precious grass alive, although I doubt very much you are experiencing desert conditions in which case your grass wont die. Of coarse having a big container in your garden may be too much for Mrs Bouquet and the rest of your local residents to look at :lol: Live with it :thumbs:
 
Might suggest sharing a bath with Mrs Greek tonight, Well, we all have to do our bit to save water.
 
H.J.H said:
Who do you expect to pay for it then?:shrug:

Sorry if I've missed the point but if you use a product or service then unfortunately you have to pay for it.

I do agree however, that a lot of water companies need to invest more into fixing leaks and less into lining their own and their share holders pockets!
Click to expand...

Well obviously revenue comes from our pockets but they shouldn't forego reasonable maintenance in preference of profits like they have for so long. I read not that long ago that enough water is leaked each day to meet the daily water consumption of 21.5 million homes in England and Wales. Consider that consumption falls by just 5% during hosepipe bans and they wouldn't actually need to reduce leaks by all that much to equal those savings and remove the need for hosepipe bans entirely. None of these improvements should come at additional expense to the consumer though!
 
The Greek said:
Might suggest sharing a bath with Mrs Greek tonight, Well, we all have to do our bit to save water.
Click to expand...

ha ha.... you may get lucky... ;)
 
This is England and what do we moan about?
Yep the weather, the rain will be back with a vengeance no doubt :D

They were talking to the guy responsible for some water authority or another,
on the radio the other day, I missed the details, but he didn't half squirm when the
presenter asked, how many thousands of gallons were leaking from THEIR system each day :D

BUT the response was something along the lines of its easier to ban hosepipes than fix the leaks,
which of course would cost £millions and take xx number of years,
So of course, lets hammer the consumer instead of getting our own house in order.
(its quicker and cheaper ;))
 
MagicMynx said:
We live on an island... how can we possibly be short of water? Surely the water companies could make feeders and filters suitable for sea water...
Click to expand...

And the official line on that apparently, is that the filtration plants have a
"huge carbon footprint"
That all sounds like a measly excuse to me, after all,
if we had an "unlimited supply" of fresh water, then the price would naturally fall ;)
 
Not only highly energy intensive to run, capital intensive to build but they produce enormous amounts of supersaline brine. Real problem is that over half the population is living in somewhat less than a quarter of the area of England... if the country wasn't so centralized people wouldn't have/want to live in that quarter and the pressure on water supply in particular would diminish.
 
MartynK said:
We had hosepipe bans and other water restrictions in Joburg a few years ago, when the dams were very low, but this was expected - the winters were bone dry and we often went for months without any rain at all. Bit different in SW Scotland where it never seems to stop raining and flood warnings are quite common!
Click to expand...

Exactly, seeing as we can pipe gas or oil across thousands of miles, surely a few large pipes from up north could be an easy option. Sorry, but if the uk has a water shortage then so should 80% of the world. My parents used to live in Arizona which often wold have no rain for half the year, yet they could use as much as they liked.

Laziness and bad management from the water companies.
 
After nearly two years of below average rainfall amounts over Southern and Eastern parts of the UK - which happens to be the most densely populated part of the country, then . . yes - something has to be done in order to conserve our water supply otherwise it's only going to get worse should this dry trend continue for the rest of 2012.
However, what is compounding the situation even more is that the population is still growing and new builds are springing up all over the place to cope with demand but the water infrastructure isn't keeping up with it - and granted there are room for improvement in that area.
But I still say that we're the ones who are causing the problem by placing ever increasing demand on natural resources - this dry spell is a small reminder on how delicate the balance of things really are. Think about that when you water your precious lawns and cars because you think nature "owes" you one.
 
Last edited:
Hosepipie ban? My wellies are still in the boot of the car! :lol:
 
All that money lining the shareholders pockets, could have been invested into the infrastructure of the water system.

Thanks to that sh** head thatcher.
 
Whatever should have happened regarding water supply, doesn't help us at the moment.

At present the south (mainly) is short of water, banning hosepipes is a means to try and conserve that water. Don't see a problem just use a watering can. Up until last year that's all I ever did to clean the car, water the garden etc.
 
cambsno said:
if the uk has a water shortage then so should 80% of the world.
Click to expand...

UK doesn't, England as a whole doesn't... *part* of England does. Don't like it, move to where the water is or get ready for your water rates to treble to pay for it. No way I would tolerate paying an additional penny on my water rates for water to be shipped down south- you want it, you pay (handsomely).
 
If there is a water shortage in the south east due to lack of rain, anyone care to explain why the Rainham (no pun intended) Marshes is flooded in places. It only get's that way from rain.
 
hunnymonster said:
UK doesn't, England as a whole doesn't... *part* of England does. Don't like it, move to where the water is or get ready for your water rates to treble to pay for it. No way I would tolerate paying an additional penny on my water rates for water to be shipped down south- you want it, you pay (handsomely).
Click to expand...

Sod you jack I'm alright :D

but more seriously, The government keep saying that it isn't viable,
but should they decide to pipe it down, (highly unlikely) you, just the same
as everyone one else in the country, will have to pay (handsomely) for the privilege ;)
 
cambsno said:
Exactly, seeing as we can pipe gas or oil across thousands of miles, surely a few large pipes from up north could be an easy option.
Click to expand...

Money would be better spend fixing the pipes down south. Rather than than just watch all our fine northern water leaking away too!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top