Neighbour demanded proof of our hosepipe ban exemption

[HoseBan]

My NDN has just demanded to see proof that we are exempt from the local hose pipe ban !!!!

I have said to them I won’t be showing them anything as it’s private but they can report me if I want and the water company can check.

We literally have just been filling a small paddling pool daily for the dc for after school and today have a little sprinkler toy as it’s boiling.

I know some people aren’t aware that there are exemptions (eg being on priority services register or certain tariff) but I’m so shocked they demanded proof !!!

Surely 'restricted activities' would not include a paddling pool and sprinkler toy though?!

Very sensible. My grandson is on the beach this weekend. His mood is so different when not battling the heat.

@HoseBan why do you need to fill it every day?

Can you not use a watering can? Do you need to use the sprinkler toy?

They are on the list.

I am really shocked. It doesnt matter if a paddling pool is "only a small one". It doesnt need to be filled again and again. You fill it once and have it for a week or two if not longer. And thats before any hosepipe ban comes along.

Sound ridiculous to me. Is it becaus of the water pressure?

It needs to be clean water due to medical reasons

Blue badge holders are exempt from the ban but I would've thought that the objective was not so they could fill paddling pools or use sprinkler toys on a daily basis. I imagine it was designed for more practical and essential purposes.

Can you not cool them down in the bath/shower?

For info, anyone can use a hosepipe during a ban to top up a garden pond if it has fish or aquatic creatures living in it.

People with children under a certain age are on the PSR

Sort of, that isn't quite what it says though is it, reasonable adjustments could easily be made, e.g Washing up bowl of water for feet, cold flannel wipe down to cool off etc. Paddling pool does not seem necessary and is probably seen by neighbours as a bit selfish.

I only realised this today when my Facebook group relevant to my condition said about those exemption … I think blue badge holders also have exemptions!

But paddling pool water doesn’t stay clean for very long once the kids start splashing in it, so how long do they stay in it?

Surely you can have a paddling pool, you just have to fill it up with a tap and bucket. It’s not a water ban.

It’s a paddling pool not a swimming pool, ffs!

Depends on the reason for exemption surely. I.e someone with a disability that affects their ability to regulate temperature, a cold pool would help.

You are abusing the concession.

We are on the priority services register and our hosepipe ban started at 1.01am this morning.

It said in the email that only the person who the priority service applies to is the only one who is exempt from the hosepipe ban - everyone else in the household is not allowed to use a hosepipe, my child cannot use a hosepipe so we are using watering cans.

It also says that it is for watering plants etc not for sprinklers and filling paddling pools.

But those medical needs don’t involve a sprinkler or paddling pool do they? It is pretty selfish to do what others aren’t allowed and use excess water when it doesn’t specifically relate to the medical need for which you’ve been granted the exemption- is sticking two fingers up at everyone else. I probably wouldn’t have asked but good on your neighbour.

i needed to top up 130 litres for water containers, thankfully no hose pipe ban, but have a 1000liter container in the garden as a backup and that was completed before the heatwave

I'm so glad I don't live in a hose pipe ban area.

Me filling up a kids pool and watering the veg plot is absolutely nothing in comparison to the huge amounts of water used by data centres and the leaks the water company take forever to repair. Its absolute rubbish.

I'm so glad I don't have obnoxious neighbours. Mine understand disregulation in children.

Filling a paddling pool and using a sprinkler is taking the piss. That is not needed for medical reasons.