AIBU to be angry about hosepipe bans and whether people will comply?

The people who think they are somehow challenging poor management of water companies by using hosepipes are delusional. And selfish

Well said.

Ignoring a hosepipe ban just to prove a point just means that the water runs out more quickly.

I agree that paying the same for a utility we can't use is unfair, and the bonuses that the water company chiefs receive are criminal, but using a hosepipe when water is limited won't solve the water shortage. Only rain can do that.

Yep. If the water runs out it runs out.

The people who think they are somehow challenging poor management of water companies by using hosepipes are delusional. And selfish.

There have been so many burst pipes in our area it's farcial ,one was like a great gushing geezer !

I had to go into a local estate for something and quite a few people were washing their cars !
We are complying.

I am old enough to remember standpipes in the street in the 70s. The water was turned on for two hours and the adults queued up with buckets. No showers or baths, washing at a basin only. No-one wants to return to that, it was horrendous. Your friends are very stupid.
I have a grey water system that stores my shower water in a water butt. It is used on the garden and for washing cars. Two showers a day is about 80 litres of water.
The system paid for itself in two years so every use now saves me money. I imagine they will become more popular as the climate changes and water gets more expensive.

Everyone already is where i am, but as people have pointed out its not really residential usage that is the ussue. My water co loses105m litres daily due to leaks. 3.6bn litres a year. Our reservoirs are still more than half filled- but the treatment stations cannot cope with the volume and the pump stations cannot cope with demand in the summer. The need to address than infrastructure.

Effectively, it’s like going to a restaurant where you prebooked and paid and are being told they dont have enough chefs or wait staff due am error in the salary payment system and because the fridge is too small they couldn’t stock enough food to fulfil your booking. So you’ll have to have half the courses you’ve paid for - and no you cant have a refund. 🤦🏽‍♀️

I guess we can expect everyone to be put on a water meter and charged accordingly in the future.

We had 6 friends (3 couples) here last night for a dinner party. They all admitted they’re still using hosepipes. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think bans are cheeky. If you pay for a water supply then it should be available. I've got a hose but don't use it much. But I object to being told I can't use it because the water companies can't get their act together

You do realise you’re falling straight into the trap of being distracted from the real problems with corporations when you’re getting angry at your neighbours using a hosepipe? You know it’s decades of mismanagement that causes these situations in of the most advanced countries in the world- surrounded by…..water? I’m exempt. I can use a hosepipe to water my plants and I do. Does my non compliance make you especially angry? Do you seethe at my insolence? 😃

It feels a bit like going into a restaurant, ordering and prepaying for a 5 course meal only to be told that actually they can only serve 3 courses, but you’ll be okay with that, yeah?

We are a week into a ban and I was coming around to supporting it, even with a household exemption, because we were forecast rain next week… and now we’re not because the Met Office really don’t seem of much use when it comes to accurate predictions. And then there are the two rivers of leaking pipes in adjacent roads that have been gushing for more than two weeks with no effort to repair them…

Our water board has just announced a ban from this Monday
Will my water bill be reduced ?
Will it fuck .
I have a fucking ginormous pool and loads of veggies and herbs growing and I will continue to use my hose
UP THE HOSEPIPES !

Time to rethink privatisation of the water companies or any public service company.

Down the storm drains with the rest of the sewage.
Also with SWWater.

We haven't got a ban yet but surely the need for one signals the inadequacy of the water companies. Here, in SW Cornwall, where my water rates have more than doubled, it rained from December until May. I can hardly remember a dry day. I don’t think I'm imagining that. So where did all that water go?

Last year I believe that Yorkshire Water were the first to instigate a hosepipe ban. This year, thanks to a wet winter and spring, our reservoirs are currently at 75% compared to the 53.8% in July 2025, and "a hosepipe ban is not expected to be put in place in Yorkshire this summer".

Well I see the rain that was forecast on my app this morning has poof gone.

Very helpful.

Thank you

Affinity Water has just announced one for Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Surrey and parts of London. I'm in Herts and very annoyed about this like you, OP!

lol at the thought of it. I live in a very big house with a big garden so that’s a no.

Thank you for the info!

Absolutely.

Why hundreds of times?

Just how much water does PP use for a bath?

its a double win though, bath water is not wasted, and you get your steps up..?

True. We have a blue badge, so we are someone covered. My concern is the pollinator plants as we designed the garden deliberately to attract bees and butterflies and are now awash with them.

Mow less, leave your garden to go wild. It'll do what it needs to do. I water veg as little as possible because it's too much effort when it's hot.
Here in the NW we had a fairly dry winter and it's not really got over that.

Well you're unlikely to be prosecuted but if you were, they'd look at the spirit of the law as well as the letter.