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

I am a bit unhinged on this issue because I seethe with rage all year when people power wash driveways and cars with masses of drinking quality water - I’m cross about both the amount used and about the quality of water used- and then in the summer I’m forbidden to take a hosepipe to my tiny wildlife pond.

And actually I don't think how easy/hard it is to water with a can is even the point. It's that water companies could have prepared so much better for this and they haven't. They are letting everyone down. Here in Kent there have been many instances since Spring of whole villages losing their water supply. It's a shitshow.

I mean to those who are saying it's no big deal, surely it depends on the size of your garden and how many plants you've got??? It's one thing if you've got a smallish garden or just a few pots - some gardens are more complex than that so watering with a can is genuinely very difficult and time consuming. It's a big assumption to just assume everyone else's garden is like your own. Waterbutt is running low and I'm saving that for the ericaceous plants that don't like mains water. I do save water from cooking and washing veg, but it doesn't go that far. I'm not putting bathwater that's full of soap on my plants, it's not good for them, or for the soil microbiome.

I didn't know this. That's appalling! Allotments and food crops in gardens and even flowers in gardens (given their necessity for insects) should all take priority over golf courses.

Golf courses are pretty for the environment already.

Well, if water gets shut off everyone is affected. I vaguely remember that happening when I was very young in tbe 1970s. It came close as an adult when I was living in Cape Town.

Some people being selfish and ignoring a hosepipe ban/ rules about picking up dog crap aren't an excuse to also be a selfish jerk.

I won't comply until the water boards get their act together and fix the huge amounts of water they lose on leaks throughout the year. Hypocrites

Are you on a water meter?

Apart from environmental reasons, my water bills has a standing charge, and then a usage charge, so the less we use the less we pay.

Apparently DD and I use about the same amount of water as the average one person household. We live very comfortably, so I have no idea what the average person is doing...

We are lucky - never had a ban. Bournemouth and district water company have their own sources.

Much the same as dog owners not picking up their dog's crap.

Doesn't make it right, and doesn't make for a pleasant community.

I don't water my little mainly container garden in a wasteful way using a hose but I really struggle to do it with a can as I can't hold it long enough under the tap and carry it backwards and forward that many times. I will be really pissed off if my lovingly tended and expensive plants die and the bees and butterflies don't have anything. Also it really grates if bloody golf courses and car washes are still using water like they usually do.

My garden is all uphill and the tap is at the bottom - watering it with a can is an absolute fucking hideous nightmare. It's a relatively large-ish garden, I've hurt my back as well, I'm up and down the steps with that can about 50 times + just to do the top half of the garden. And my garden is full of pollinators and birds who rely on it. Southeast water are an absolute fucking disgrace. I live in Sittingbourne and I don't remember the last summer we didn't get a hosepipe ban, I'm fucking SICK of it - and it turns out the reason isn't even that we're short of water?!?! WTAF? Fucking seething.

I've got no intention of complying with a hosepipe ban unless my water payments are discounted. Why should I pay the same amount but get less?

i got my water butt through the water company

I meant most adults i know.

Actually, most young people can get their head round the idea that if person X is a selfish jerk, that isn't an excuse to be a selfish jerk yourself.

I am a dog owner, and pick up my dog's crap when we are out for a walk. By your logic, the fact that some owners don't clean.up after their dog means I don't have to either. But that would result in a whole lot more dog crap making the park worse for everyone. So I pick it up.

Hosepipes use a lot of water, so if you don't use one your bill will go down anyway if you're on a meter.

I have literally just started growing my own veg this year. In a small area of my small garden. I will still water. And I will be filling up my watering can from my hosepipe so...😵‍💫

For the amount of watering I'll need to do (about half a dozen containers) I feel like o might just crack on and take a chance on the neighbours dobbing me in...my front garden is complete paved and my back lawn is absolute shite anyway so I can live with that looking even worse, but four months of lovingly cultivated veg...hmmm....

You can always use your bath water for the ferns.

And if you get prosecuted you get a conviction that shows up on your DBS.

Literally whatever.

It will kill plants and the bees will suffer. Not cool.