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.

No I wouldn’t.

Record number of leaks wasting gallons of water with no intent to repair.

Record amounts of sewage dumped into the sea affecting those to wish to enjoy it.

Record fines for the above, and a nice 33% increase on our bills to pay for their failings.

Record dividends paid to their shareholders and directors despite their utter incompetence.

So excuse me if I want to fill a paddling pool for my daughter to enjoy or water the grass I’ve worked hard to keep instead of plastic or concrete which is increasing flooding and killing the environment.

The current system allows those at the top to get richer at the expense of us users at the bottom. I so wish something would change.

I have never said that I would, and nor would I, but I would judge you for being selfish.

The water companies haven't behaved well but it doesn't give us carte blanche to behave selfishly either. Two wrongs don't make a right.

So excuse me if I want to fill a paddling pool for my daughter to enjoy or water the grass I’ve worked hard to keep

No, I won't excuse you for being selfish.

She only gets one childhood. A finite number of summers.

But hey at least people can get their Range Rovers washed at the car wash as many times as they like during the ban? No restrictions on the gallons of water they get through. Because there’s money in it for the government.

But yes a toddler paddling pool in the garden is the issue 🤣 clearly.

Are the car washes still open? I'd be surprised if they are, and annoyed at the double standards.

They are. You seem quite naive to the way the elite can manipulate the situation for their benefit.

Maybe I am, but I will continue to be sensible about water usage. This is between me and my conscience.

No I wouldn’t report them. But I might remind them that there is a ban in place.

Definitely something to consider, I’ll price it up and see how practical it is on my patio.

A bit gestapo no?

No, I wouldn't. It's a power trip to report someone for this under the circumstances of the water companies taking the absolute piss out of the people paying for it for years. It's not about saving water or doing the right thing in most cases, it's about feeling self righteous and feeling you've got one over on someone else.

I agree people can be incredibly selfish however it's not hard to see why this happens when water companies are wasting water by not maintaining the system s properly, being fined for doing so and then mysteriously the water bills shoot up, the companies don't lose any money, the shareholders still get their cut and the customer gets to pay for it all and then told they can't use it and they must be responsible and it'll be their fault for watering the garden or filling a paddling pool if we run out.

It's a predictable result of having the piss taken repeatedly and being blamed for the results of poor management of the water systems by the companies who are paid to do so.

Apparently no one has ever been prosecuted

Who would you report it to?

I’d be pee’d off if someone reported me, we pay for our water privately it doesn’t come from the area supplier so when the “Yorkshire water” or whoever declare a hosepipe ban it doesn’t relate to us. Only our provider can tell us if we need to stop using the water as much. Then I definitely would as if the water ran out we just wouldn’t have any.

No because my flowers were expensive and I am not willing to let them die.

Well definitely not the police, I’ve just seen this on Facebook.

No, I wouldn’t report. Water companies lose millions, if not billions of litres of water each day through leaks. The water companies continue to take huge dividends whilst ripping off the public. They need to get their own house in order.

Using a hosepipe during a ban is selfish. The people saying they would be justified in doing it because of failings of the water companies are kidding themselves, trying to persuade themselves that their selfishness is not, in fact, selfishness.

As humans, we survive by cooperating. People grow food and provide healthcare for each other. They also provide piped clean water into our homes on a mass scale. If the system broke down tomorrow, a lot of us would die. Only those who managed to scrabble together a subsistence farm next to a clean water source would survive.

Our water doesn’t appear by magic. It takes a lot of work by a lot of people. I suspect most of those people are doing their best although no doubt there are failings in the system and, as with pretty much any big system, things could be improved. Maybe there are also selfish people creaming off more than their fair share of profit while not doing their utmost to make the system as good as it can be, I don’t know.

But tit-for-tat selfishness does not cancel out the original selfishness. It makes things worse. It makes you just as bad as the fat cats.

It means there is less water for other customers who have done nothing wrong.

Imagine if everybody did it and we actually ran out of water. I hope at least then you would feel guilty.

The hosepipe ban and the systemic failings are two separate issues. If you feel so strongly about the systemic failings, get involved, help improve the system. Don’t sit at home “protesting” by having a lovely time with your paddling pool and your lush lawn.

No, I wouldn’t “report”, to whom do you propose to report anyway and how?
Everyone should be on a water meter and in times of shortages there should be price rises that go into government coffers, not private companies. It’s the long showering culture etc that needs curtailing. Quick rinse down, turn off water, wash, then rinse. Recycle grey water systems etc.

Why the gestapo comment? There are the same comments on my local Facebook pages. People are thick. If they continue to use water with abandon and it doesn't rain then there will be the possibility of standpipes.

We are currently using water from the water butts to water our tomatoes because we aren't stupid or selfish.

@EviesHat

How does filling watering cans with a tap instead of hose save any water?

How does using a watering can save water compared with a hose with controllable nozzle?

Apparently you report to the water company, I wondered this upthread but water companies have yet to fine anyone anyway.

This is surely just a head up kind or ban, to alert people that supplies are lower than usual and just to be sensible rather than hosing a yellowing garden for 2 hrs every night which will recover all by itself anyway once it rains.

Brilliant post @Minglingpringle
We are also keeping washing up bowls in all the sinks to save grey water to tip onto the garden.

It makes us realise just how much water we use, plus the fact that we often walk around local reservoirs and can see with our own eyes just how bad it is. (We have lots of reservoirs bear us because usually it rains a lot).

Doesn't this sound like the debate over face masks!
Our water is a resource for all so if there's a hosepipe ban I would abide by it and expect others to so that we, as a community, have water for essential uses. If a neighbours is blatantly and repeatedly ignoring a ban for something as needless as watering their lawn then I'd probably tackle them directly about it!
That doesn't equate to letting the water companies off the hook - I dislike and mistrust them as much as anyone.

I think rather than being selfish people are just fed up of being scapegoats while rich and companies take an absolute piss.
That goes for everything, not just water during bans

Some people are on the Priority Register and exempt from the hosepipe ban because they have mobility issues and cannot walk up and down the garden or carry a heavy watering can. So that may be why they are using the hosepipe. They will have had an email from their water company.