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AIBU?

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Original poster

To just ignore the hose pipe ban this year

89 replies

Shan5474 · 12/04/2024 14:44

I know using a hose pipe is against the rules so I am BU but I’m fed up.

I live alone with no kids, all the neighbouring houses have at least four people in the family. I love gardening and I grow fruit, veg and flowers in a medium-sized garden. Last year we had a hose pipe ban almost solidly from May-October. We have one every summer (south coast).

I want to be a good person/neighbour, I just get so bloody frustrated when I can hear my neighbour’s shower drain constantly or them splashing in hot tubs/paddling pools in the summer while I’m taking ages filling watering can after watering can, when it would only take 5-10 mins to water the garden with a hose sprayer.

WIBU to just quickly use the hose in the summer? The neighbours can hear it, will they judge me? I know water use is per person not per household but the amount of showering/clothes washing/dishwasher use in the neighbouring houses must be way more than the extra water I’d use by just running the hose

OP posts:
Original poster
Shan5474 · 12/04/2024 17:18

Muchtoomuchtodo · 12/04/2024 17:12

YABU, the families around you will be paying more to use 4 people’s worth of water than you are for 1 person.

You need to get your water butt sorted now if you’re predicting a dry spring / summer and want it to fill up with rain water!

I’m on a meter so would pay extra to use the hose. But yes I do need to get a butt soon

OP posts:
amylou8 · 12/04/2024 17:16

I'm on the south coast too. Not only have Southern Water grid locked the entire city for weeks on end closing a road for repairs that should have been done decades ago, they now say we're still water stressed after the wettest few months on record. I'm minded to turn all my taps on and leave them on (I won't).
Use yout hose OP.

Original poster
Shan5474 · 12/04/2024 17:16

@shearwater2 Yes it wasn’t super hot, then we had some really heavy rain, they dumped a load of sewage in the sea and said the reservoirs were really low! And they say if they fix all the old leaking pipes the cost will be passed onto customers. My flowers wilt while they’re losing the water themselves 😂

OP posts:
shearwater2 · 12/04/2024 17:14

Apparently we are filthy anyway, SE Water said we use 40% less water than a usual family of four when they started to monitor our use 😂Wasn't sure whether to be proud or ashamed.

Muchtoomuchtodo · 12/04/2024 17:12

YABU, the families around you will be paying more to use 4 people’s worth of water than you are for 1 person.

You need to get your water butt sorted now if you’re predicting a dry spring / summer and want it to fill up with rain water!

DiamondArtists · 12/04/2024 17:12

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

shearwater2 · 12/04/2024 17:10

I ignored it last year in terms of watering tomatoes and chillis in the greenhouse, just left the hose in there ready to switch on at the tap, and only had it on a gentle spray setting, but it takes about five seconds to water stuff vs ten minutes with the watering can. I didn't use the hose in the garden generally though throughout the duration of the ban. Because it rained enough anyway!

Normally I can see where the water company are coming from when there really is a long dry spell and support a ban, but I just thought last year South East Water were absolutely taking the piss (which they literally do of course 😂).

We had above average rainfall for the first three months of 2023 then an average April and May, then we had about four weeks of regularly pleasant weather before they introduced a ban.

Fuck. Off. Stop taking forever to fix leaks and stop releasing pollution into the rivers and seas. And build some fucking reservoirs.

Original poster
Shan5474 · 12/04/2024 17:08

CornishPorsche · 12/04/2024 17:01

Which water company? Have you looked at their water reserves or plans?

Show quote history

South East Water. I am just having a look, it says the two biggest reservoirs are 80-100% full nearly all year so I assume I’m not supplied by them. They are considering a scheme to treat “wastewater effluent” to recycle the water. Maybe I will call and ask about their hose pipe ban plan 😅

OP posts:
CornishPorsche · 12/04/2024 17:06

Shan5474 · 12/04/2024 17:01

I tried using shower water last year, I ended up trailing water through the house and it took ages going up and down the stairs. I am definitely considering a water butt though

Show quote history

Put a plug in the bath and a hose out the window. Siphon it.

Justcallmebebes · 12/04/2024 17:06

I use mine as normal and take no notice of bans

K0OLA1D · 12/04/2024 17:03

I'm exempt from a hosepipe ban. But I don't really plan on having any pots this year. So use your hosepipe instead of me!

Original poster
Shan5474 · 12/04/2024 17:01

Lemonyyy · 12/04/2024 15:03

Can't you just use grey water? Keep your bath or put the plug in when you shower? That's what my parents have always done during a hosepipe ban and they are pretty successful veg growers.

I tried using shower water last year, I ended up trailing water through the house and it took ages going up and down the stairs. I am definitely considering a water butt though

OP posts:
CornishPorsche · 12/04/2024 17:01

Shan5474 · 12/04/2024 16:57

We are not currently under one and they haven’t mentioned it in advance. But we have at least one every year. There are constant burst pipes when the weather is very hot or cold and after heavy rainfall they pump sewage into the sea so I feel the lack of water is partly the water company’s fault along with the rain levels

Show quote history

Which water company? Have you looked at their water reserves or plans?

Original poster
Shan5474 · 12/04/2024 16:57

CornishPorsche · 12/04/2024 15:01

Where is still under a hosepipe ban? And have your local water company said you'll have one this summer?

I'm in Cornwall, it's been appallingly wet here all winter and they've confirmed no likelihood of a ban this summer!

We are not currently under one and they haven’t mentioned it in advance. But we have at least one every year. There are constant burst pipes when the weather is very hot or cold and after heavy rainfall they pump sewage into the sea so I feel the lack of water is partly the water company’s fault along with the rain levels

OP posts:
isitbananatimealready · 12/04/2024 15:16

Set up an irrigation system on a timer. As far as I'm aware, this is allowed during a hosepipe ban.

Boutonnière · 12/04/2024 15:12

I had to check to see if this was a zombie thread because where is there likely to be a hosepipe ban this year ? Do you live somewhere in the UK with a particular weather/geographical/geological formation that makes it unusually prone to hosepipe bans every summer? It’s been raining so much this year ( SE) that all the reservoirs are filled, the rivers are running high, the aquifers are being topped up, crops are flooded, the parks are full of standing water because the ground can’t take any more………

Lemonyyy · 12/04/2024 15:03

Can't you just use grey water? Keep your bath or put the plug in when you shower? That's what my parents have always done during a hosepipe ban and they are pretty successful veg growers.

Lovemusic82 · 12/04/2024 15:02

Just use it. I can’t see there being a ban this year seeing as it’s rain almost constantly for 6 months. I don’t have a tap in my back garden so I have water butts and use a watering can, it’s a bit of a pain on often my lawn dies (but it browns back). I do have a hose out the front of my house which I use to wash my car.

MrsTerryPratchett · 12/04/2024 15:02

Hot tubs aren't refilled every time. Paddling pools are normally filled with a hose so report them if it makes you happy. They could have lo-flow shower heads. And people need to do washing.

Why not use grey water? Or a trickle system? Or a rain butt or a thousand other methods to preserve water.

Maddy70 · 12/04/2024 15:01

Yabu. The water restrictions are for a reason. Of course families will use more. But that doesn't mean you can waste extra water

CornishPorsche · 12/04/2024 15:01

Where is still under a hosepipe ban? And have your local water company said you'll have one this summer?

I'm in Cornwall, it's been appallingly wet here all winter and they've confirmed no likelihood of a ban this summer!

gellowbelow · 12/04/2024 15:00

We're on the south coast too and our water board allow you to use hosepipes if it's to maintain fruit / veg crops. And other things like new plants etc. maybe yours is the same?

Jadedbuthappy82 · 12/04/2024 14:59

Argh, human beings 🤦🏼😬 he's used too much for his shower so I'm going to use too much too...

And this, folks, is why the human race will never ever survive the climate crisis. Too many selfish people on the planet. I despair. There's just no collective mindset is there for protecting Ur greater good as a species.

It's not that you would be using your hose because there having long showers, you both need to think of the poor planet. Anyway...

Pfpppl · 12/04/2024 14:59

Ignoring whether it's right or wrong, what about getting a trickle waterer that you can hook up to a tap. Something like this. It would be far less obvious to neighbours. You could also get a timer so it runs overnight, which would be even less noticeable and more efficient as it's cooler, so less evaporation.

babyhiding · 12/04/2024 14:57

Shower in the garden :)

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