Hosepipe Ban - Right or Wrong?

RichardtheSane said:
Money would be better spend fixing the pipes down south. Rather than than just watch all our fine northern water leaking away too!
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Indeed it would however I refer you back to an earlier post that
"expains" why that won't happen :D

Cobra said:
<snip>
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 ;)) <snip>
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And now, after my earlier somewhat "grumpy" post - here'a a light-hearted take on things (can't remember if I have showed this particular cartoon in this forum before) . . .

Droughtcartoon.jpg
 
My worry from a selfish POV regarding angling and the industry I work in, is that rivers (on the whole) are running at summer levels, and that's without extraction. Once the heat sets in and extraction is required then I really do worry about the water levels sustaining a healthy balance. Multiply that by several successive dry summers and winters and we have an issue.....

I fish at Drayciote Water, which is the local water supply res for Rugby. It's about 10ft down at the moment, so I can see why a hose pipe ban could be put in place (if it isn't already - the water board haven't sent out notification). On one hand, the fishing is getting easier because it's like shooting fish in a barrel, but joking aside, the reservoir needs a massive input of water to get it back up to normal levels - remember this is a 500-acre lake that is down by 10ft, and that's small by comparison to places like Rutland.

According to sources, the water authority will be extracting soon from the River Leam to start filling the reservoir. The river is probably only 500 yards away but at this point it's 10ft wide and just a trickle; they have to extract via a pipe from nearer to leamington, which is probably a good 20 miles in total. Unfortunately, measures like that cost money and it'll be me who foots the bill - there won't be a contingency that will pay the full cost I imagine.


admirable said:
Hosepipie ban? My wellies are still in the boot of the car! :lol:
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My waterproof and my thermals are still in the boot of mine.... by the looks of things, it's not going to be the best of weather through April and spending all my time shooting outdoors, I'm not taking chances :lol:
 
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I shouldn't really get involved in this thread as it's my job.

I can't speak on behalf of those companies that have gone through privatisation down South but without mentioning WIC or regulators - there are so many targets and quality standards that need to be met which have required massive investment despite the 'acceptable' price to the customer being imposed. As for water use - again I'm not saying much but leakage (in some companies/authorities) is nothing short of bonkers. The cost (to you) of treating 100% of the water that enters public supply when only aherm % reaches you and then only aherm % is 'consumed' is an issue that can either be (depending on where you live) continually charged for or (in non profit making companies) looked into due to imposed targets and internal efficiencies.

Chuck in everything else - waste water treatment, discharges, beaches, sewer flooding, interruptions to supply, lead replacement - the past lack of investment in infrastructure and ever tougher targets being set then 'every little helps'.
 
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hglossop said:
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.
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I totally agree with you.

We are in this mess now due to the lack of investment over decades of bad management either by the government or private comanies.
The population has grown but there doesn't seem to have been any new reservoirs.
Leaks have been left instead of fixing them straight away. Now there are too costly to fix.
Yet these companies still make huge amounts of profit for themselves and share holders. This money should be invested into improving things.
 
Cobra said:

if we had an "unlimited supply" of fresh water, then the price would naturally fall ;)
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Someones been telling you porkies :D

Our reservoirs are 95% full so no water shortage here and the price does not change ;)
Maybe thats because we have to foot the bill of shipping our water at great expense to the southern reservoirs. :thinking:
 
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. 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.
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Hi Simon, a quick 'back of the fag packet' calculation shows that arizona has about 4 times the amount of actual rainfall per person than the uk.
 
I am local to Simon (Cambsno) so am affected by the ban too. I can only assume that it is dependent upon which supplier you fall under as in Cottenham, six miles from me, they are supplied by Cambridge Water but do not have a hosepipe ban.

Not sure of the supply logistics but I am surprised that they source their water from a different reservoir to Anglia Water.
 
Cannot understand why we use purified drinking water to flush the bog,wash the car,water the garden etc etc.

Wonder if a two tier water supply would be viable, one for drinking water and one for other stuff?
 
fracster said:
Cannot understand why we use purified drinking water to flush the bog,wash the car,water the garden etc etc.

Wonder if a two tier water supply would be viable, one for drinking water and one for other stuff?
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Great idea Ade, except the H&S vultures would be all over it due to potential mix ups and subsequent litigation.

What would be more efficient is for a house's plumbing system to recycle water from the sinks, bath and shower for secondary use prior to submitting to sewage. A few green build projects attempt this, but it's very much the cutting edge, rather than mainstream.
 
This is how I see things as it stands. Water can not be destroyed or created! Ok pipes leak but this goes back into the ground and finds its way back into the natural water course the same way rain does when it hits the ground, so its in a cycle that ends up in the rivers and reservoirs.
Also how many gallons of water is sat in bottles in shops and supermarkets? It all must come from a water source somewhere, be it a spring or tap so is this a reason supplies are low? :thinking:

cheers

Rod
 
Yes it will eventually find its way back into the reservoirs but the water company have already had to pay to treat it before pumping it through pipes, why pay to treat the same water over and over as it just leaks out and comes back again. As always it is the consumer that ultimately bears this cost in higher water rates.

H&S for separate water supplies can't be too bad can it? In my uni halls the taps in my ensuite have a no drinking sign on them as they aren't connected to mains pressure i beleive so some places already aren't entirely just 'everything connected to the drinking water supply'.
 
cambsno said:
EMy 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.
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*cough* Lake Mead (OK its just in Nevada, but it does supply other states), *cough* Colarado River. while large lumps of Arizona may be arid, it does have a 'fairly' big water supply.

I do agree with you about poor management from thw water companies, but SE UK is dryier then large parts of Europe, including some of the countires you mention..............
 
there's a ban here (humberside) but since it started it has only stopped raining for a few hours :lol:
 
hunnymonster said:
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).
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I would guess that London and SE England probably pay for a lot of stuff that Northern England and Scotland enjoy. We are all in the United Kingdom as a whole and help each other in different ways. :)
 
gman said:
I would guess that London and SE England probably pay for a lot of stuff that Northern England and Scotland enjoy. We are all in the United Kingdom as a whole and help each other in different ways. :)
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:plusone:
 
fracster said:
Cannot understand why we use purified drinking water to flush the bog,wash the car,water the garden etc etc.
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Because the nation is populated with the likes of that woman who set herself alight decanting petrol in her kitchen.

If a two tier system was in place she'd probably have been rushed to hospital for drinking from the toilet bowl....
 
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