Would you report somebody for using a hosepipe during a ban?

[BurntBroccoli]

Lots of people on FB saying they will continue using as much water as they please as they have “paid for it”.

Reservoir levels are at 55% capacity when normally it’s 89% and with much more hot weather to come, I’m worried that they will implement standpipes due to people being irresponsible.

If you only have a bath, you can still install a shower easily and non permanent. I have a little screw on metal valve attached to a mixer tap (about £6) and you can attach a normal shower hose and head. To attach to a tiled wall you can use one of those twist on suction hooks.

Asking with genuine interest why would vulnerable people need to use a hosepipe more than anyone else?

No I wouldn’t report my neighbour even though I’d never use my hose in a ban and we’re generally careful with our water usage anyway.

I’m more than happy to do my bit but I’m not helping the water companies fine normal people a grand whilst they’re still taking huge dividends and wasting water by not fixing major leaks. If they want the public to help them catch people out, they need to clean up their act first.

Why are people so obsessed about grass! It’s really not that great for wildlife (unless you let it grow a bit).

Your bull went up by at least 20% this year.
It’s also been a record year for water company shareholder dividends.

Out of interest, were you considering writing to your MP or OfWAT about your water company ripping you off?

I like our neighbours but when one was jet washing his patio at 5am the other morning (that's another thread...) and another was hosing down his path/road I must admit I was quite annoyed 😠

I think it depends.
Some people are generally careful with water. We share baths (if we aren't filthy),babies jump in with us for example. We wash towels once a week, sheets once a week etc.
We have a small paddling pool and I don't see the issue with filling it during heat waves. The water stays in there for a few days then the garden is watered with it after.

If someone fills a massive pool or keeps changing the water, yes that's an arsehole move but I don't think filling it once or twice over the summer is a big deal

Mine was double! Yes I’m annoyed at water companies and they absolutely should be nationalised again.

It’s not what the post is about though. It’s about making sure we have enough water left in the reservoirs over summer and Autumn as otherwise we may be using a standpipe in the street.

It’s been a drier year than 1976 when the water board did issue a standpipe order.
Queing for buckets of water isn’t my idea of fun.

I don't think you can compare using a hose pipe during a ban or even benefit fraud to domestic violence.

I reported a suspected leak in January after my usual metered bill tripled, 7 months later they said they'd be out this month to investigate .7 months of leakage. I only agreed to a meter so theyd fit a stopcock outside house. And tonight homes here have had no supply or v low pressure due to a reported leak nearby, 5 hours waiting for it 'to be investigated'. Makes me less inclined to report a hosepipe user.

Same people fapping themselves silly about us having to use standpipes as the ones who got breathlessly excited about the military coming to confine us all indoors during Covid.

Black swans prove what?

No not excited at all. In fact, I feel very despondent about the general lack of knowledge that water is a finite resource.

Oh how I wish! Won't work for us (we only have a bath), no mixer taps, and behind the taps the wall rises to a window. We did make enquiries as to how we might put a shower in but it would require either bricking up part of the window so the shower fittings could be fixed, or reinforcing the plasterboard at the other end of the bath and re-routing the pipework under the bath to put the taps at the other end! Since we have other renovation to do and of course we have a perfectly usable bath, we never got around to a decision over what to do. Having said that I only have a bath twice a week so don't use a lot of water.

Do you know that your neighbours don’t meet any of the exemption criteria?

It depends on what they're doing with it. If it was a neighbour with a beautiful garden which they put a lot of work into, then no. Especially if they're growing fruit and veg.
Someone filling the paddling pool every day or repeatedly washing their car, maybe.

I remember the summer of 1976 very well - in the worst affected areas they most definitely did have standpipes in the streets and rationing for up to 17hrs per day and it was featured on the news every night with footage of people queuing up.
Whilst I wouldn't report someone for using a hosepipe during a ban (I'd quietly seethe instead and give them the evil eye) I'm really shocked at the attitude of so many people on here. We can all agree that the greedy water companies have been operating negligently for years and they should be renationalised to stop them redirecting customers' money into bosses' bonuses and shareholders' dividends instead of spending it on improving the infrastructure and fixing leaks, but the whataboutery on here is astonishing. So many people seem to think that because the water companies have acted with impunity, they can too, whilst not acknowledging that water is a finite resource and it could run critically low before summer is over. I imagine if we do end up with rationing, these people will be queuing in the street still complaining about the water companies whilst not recognising their own part in the shortage.
I had an email from my water supplier last week advising that our local rivers/chalk streams are "low" (this is on a scale of "Good", "Below Average", "Low", "Very Low" and "Extreme") and it's really concentrated my mind on how to minimise waste (which I hope will become good habits for me going forward). I'm just praying for a wet Autumn if we don't get any appreciable rain before then!

I don’t know if you are aware but water companies are only allowed to build new reservoirs when the regulator say they are allowed to

First day of the school holidays, guaranteed. Followed by 6 weeks of it.

Agreed, if someone is taking the p then I’d report but might turn blind eye to a little bit of occasional use , although I might gently remind them of the ban

The money that is paid to water companies won't magic up water from dust. Two totally unrelated issues and to cry "I pay for the water so I'll be using it" is very short sighted.

In Australia we have droughts. I grew up on a large farm with no town water. Rain water only. When the tanks ran dry, you'd have to fill from the bore. Which is risky as bores can, and do, run dry.

I now live in a capital city. We've had water issues many times. In one, the council/government sent two minute timers to use in the shower so people took shorter showers. Total ban on watering yards and plants. Water needed to be conserved for drinking and daily health eg bathing.

Your choices are continue to overuse water and be subject to rationing. Or reduce usage, including reporting people doing things that are not permitted, so that you have drinking water going forward.

There's one being built in Hampshire now - due to become operational in 2029.

Unfortunately, unless a water leak is a danger to life or property, a water company has to wait for a permit or notice to be approved by the local authority before they can legally go and repair it. If that leak is on a road that requires the road to be closed whilst the works take place, then there is a 3 month wait before the notice/permit is granted.

so sometimes, as much as a water company want to go and repair that leak, legally, they are not allowed u til X time.

Could you change the separate taps to a mixer? Keep the old taps to put back in case you move out?
You could put the temporary hook on the side (I have) if there’s a window above the taps and put a circular shower curtain around (attached to ceiling which can be filled in and painted on leaving the house).

Thank you. That’s exactly what I’m trying to say.