Hosepipe Ban

[rynnor]

From Monday a hosepipe ban comes into effect in our region (3 valleys) - personally I've always wondered if there was much point in these - people in general use more on baths and flushing the toilet and in any case its a smokescreen.

The reality is we live in a country with a more than sufficient rainfall so why do we have a problem?

1. Long term lack of investment - its certainly not got any better since it went private but even before we had not been maintaining it properly - the infrastructure in many places is still reliant on work done in Queen Victoria's time. As a consequence we lose as much water in pumping it through our leaky network as is actually used domestically which is ridiculous.

2. Failure to predict future demand - the growth in house building in the south east has not been matched by a similar growth in the creation of Reservoirs/treatment plants etc. In fact Thames water has actually been selling off and filling in some of its old reservoirs since the land is worth a fortune - this is where the privatised company aspect of the water companies conflicts with the requirements of its customers.

3. Profiteering - By complaining long and loud about the shortage of water that they have engineered the water companies can enable a legal mechanism that allows them to force customers to install water meters from which they expect to increase their profits substantially.

Re-nationalise the water companies!!!

 

[Furr]

Had a hosepipe ban where i live since last summer, Although the weirwood resevoir is just down the road and it is pretty low. Blame mother nature....

Doesn't help that everyone seems to be coming down to the "hated" south from up north, or that the goverments is trying to build shed loads of new homes. More people = more water = hose pipe bans.

Will just have to get a couple drums to stick in the garden to catch rain water tbh...

Why can't they develop.. i dunno.. the midlands???

 

[rynnor]

Had a hosepipe ban where i live since last summer, admitidly the weirwood resevoir is just down the road and it is pretty low. Blame mother nature....

Nah - its just that we have so little storage compared to demand that we have been walking a knife edge for years - if enough reservoirs were built and we plugged the leaks we'd have no trouble maintaining supply - but that costs money...

Edit - the difference between what the Victorians did and what we do now is that the Victorian work was done by engineers who believed in doing things right - now its run by managers who believe in doing it as cheaply as possible...

 

[Paradroid]

Funnily enough my sis started working for a private water company a couple of years ago, a lot of water is wasted in leakages apparently (and we all know that's dependant on money).

Isn't the real reason for the shortage down-south the low underground water tables (dry winters etc)?

Anyways I live in Scotland, where there's more water than you could comfortably shake a large stick at.

I blame industry, and paved gardens.

 

[Meatballs]

From Monday a hosepipe ban comes into effect in our region (3 valleys) - personally I've always wondered if there was much point in these - people in general use more on baths and flushing the toilet and in any case its a smokescreen.

For an average garden watering it costs about £1 of water, for a bath its summat like 25p, and a toilet flush is about 8p or something along those lines if I remember properly.

This Winter has been very very dry. Most people don't realise how little rain we've had:

For thames valley in january :

Rainfall
This month, the Region has received just 30% of the long-term average rainfall for January.
Reversing the trend for the last couple of months, North-East Area was the least dry, receiving
36% of January’s long term average. West Area was the driest, where January in the Cherwell
catchment was the 2nd driest since records began in 1920 and was drier than 2005, 1976 and
1997.

 

[rynnor]

Isn't the real reason for the shortage down-south the low underground water tables (dry winters etc)?

Funnily enough theres actually a very high water table in London at the moment - the water was once used industrially as its not suitable for drinking but all the industry has moved out of London so the levels have gradually risen - this water is not extracted by Thames Water but it is flooding low lieing basements/the Underground etc...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/walks/didyouknow.shtml - mentioned here.

 

[old.user4556]

I'm glad to be in Scotland at this rate, no shortage of damp/wet weather here.

 

[rynnor]

This Winter has been very very dry. Most people don't realise how little rain we've had

Generally it just means we end up with a wet spring - I dont think we are in danger of turning into a desert - as I said above the hosepipes lose a fraction of what is lost due to leaks in the system - you could double the domestic supply if you fixed the leaks even without building anymore reservoirs.

Plus no-ones using their hosepipes in April - its raining out ;P

 

[tris-]

in all fairness how many people actually use a hosepipe? in all my life ive never found something where a hosepipe is specifically needed. unless your lazy of course, then that will be exactly why you need one.

 

[Tom]

I should say I sympathise, but in reality my response is

"HARRR HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH"

You southern fairies need to realise that up'ere' in't'North is where its at. We've got cheap houses, better roads, better countryside, more rain, cheaper beer (with a proper head), and people up here aren't rude like they are down there.

Oh, and don't believe that Victorian engineering was constructed using only the best materials and the finest designs - they concentrated on saving money and cutting corners even more so than is allowed today. Just peel back the interior plaster on your average London house to see what I mean.

 

[tris-]

i would hardly say manchester it up narf but there you go. southners are fairies at the end of the day

 

[nath]

Ah such envy :\

 

[Furr]

Well we're just going to end up running a big pipline from the north to the south with water in it anyway.

Anyway the south east (not including london) is the powerhouse of the UK, if the south east was its own country we'd be in the top 20 GDP countries in the world, more than denmark! and if we end up including London that rises into the top 10!!!! ( I read this somewhere can't rightly remember)

So nahhhhh

 

[Bugz]

Well we're just going to end up running a big pipline from the north to the south with water in it anyway.

Anyway the south east (not including london) is the powerhouse of the UK, if the south east was its own country we'd be in the top 20 GDP countries in the world, more than denmark! and if we end up including London that rises into the top 10!!!! ( I read this somewhere can't rightly remember)

So nahhhhh

Thanet, next to Dover, is one of the most undeveloped regions in the country tho.

 

[tRoG]

Well we're just going to end up running a big pipline from the north to the south with water in it anyway.

Anyway the south east (not including london) is the powerhouse of the UK, if the south east was its own country we'd be in the top 20 GDP countries in the world, more than denmark! and if we end up including London that rises into the top 10!!!! ( I read this somewhere can't rightly remember)

So nahhhhh

Doesn't matter if it's a shit place to live

 

[rynnor]

...up'ere' in't'North..

You live in the Midlands...

All Northerners are dole scum getting a free ride on the backs of us hardworking South Easteners so we'll nick your water (once we strain the dead sheep n whippets out)

 

[tris-]

again, can you explain what task specifically requires a hose pipe? and why such a ban should be worth caring about at all?

 

[Meatballs]

Generally it just means we end up with a wet spring - I dont think we are in danger of turning into a desert - as I said above the hosepipes lose a fraction of what is lost due to leaks in the system - you could double the domestic supply if you fixed the leaks even without building anymore reservoirs.

Plus no-ones using their hosepipes in April - its raining out ;P

I'm sure we'd have more water if they fixed leaks etc. But dont think we're going to have a wet spring to sort it all out, currently we're at 9 consecutive months of below average rainfall, and we've need a well above average spring months to get reservoirs back to normal pre summer.

Tris, irrigating your garden, washing your car, generally are hose pipe uses. You may not realise it but a lot of people pour a lot of water on their gardens to keep them nice and green

 

[tris-]

so there we have it. tasks that dont REQUIRE a hosepipe. i do all those things and ive never used a hosepipe in my life.

 

[Tom]

You live in the Midlands...

All Northerners are dole scum getting a free ride on the backs of us hardworking South Easteners so we'll nick your water (once we strain the dead sheep n whippets out)

Who taught you Geography?

 

[Chilly]

been raining hard here the last few days, hosepipe ban still comes into effect though going to go down to farmoore reservoire and see if they are taking the piss or there is actually a shortage.

 

[Danya]

Have to say, at times like this I'm glad I live oop norf.

 

[Ormorof]

isnt manchester way further north than the midlands? (birmingham/leicester = midlands? )

and yes it is stupid (i believe they tried building a reservoir near here but apparently it would spoil the scenery of the area, hurray for surrey madness )

 

[Furr]

Midlands is the inbetween part of the country that no one wants its goes in terms of bestest areas

South
North
North Korea
Midlands

 

[Tilda]

in all fairness how many people actually use a hosepipe? in all my life ive never found something where a hosepipe is specifically needed. unless your lazy of course, then that will be exactly why you need one.

Its infringing our rights!!

 

[Tom]

I use my hosepipe all the time.

 

[ECA]

I use my hosepipe all the time.

You really should stop wasting water with that home enema kit.

 

[Ardas Nails]

Apparantly we have been on a housepipe ban where I live since last year heh, severe water shortage in south east, yet they want to build another 250,000 homes here.

 

[JBP|]

Why dont they just send a few boats up to the polar ice caps and chip a bit off? that's what i want to know.

 

[Trem]

I should say I sympathise, but in reality my response is

"HARRR HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH"

You southern fairies need to realise that up'ere' in't'North is where its at. We've got cheap houses, better roads, better countryside, more rain, cheaper beer (with a proper head), and people up here aren't rude like they are down there.

Oh, and don't believe that Victorian engineering was constructed using only the best materials and the finest designs - they concentrated on saving money and cutting corners even more so than is allowed today. Just peel back the interior plaster on your average London house to see what I mean.

LMAO I was just about to say something similar.

*dances with Tom under a sprinkler while eating black pudding*

We also make correct sandwiches up North as well.