to think that if you live in an area with a hosepipe ban

[Kveta]

you probably shouldn't set up a sprinkler for your approx 30x50 ft garden at 7am, and then leave it on all fricking day?

bloody neighbours

other neighbours were pressure washing their huge patio the other day, and have sprinklers on for half an hour every morning.

and people wonder why we're in a drought in the SE...

The simple answer would be to put every household in the uk on a water meter. There would be no need for bans as people would then be more resonsible of the amount of water they used. The man who leaves his hose on all day would soon stop when he found it was costing him £30 each time he did it. paddling pools would go back to being small plastic blow up rings with an inch or so of water in rather than the monster ones everyone insists on now and waterbutts would be the common way to water a garden.

It is pretty ignorant to say that it is disgusting that companies make a profit from a limited resource..... That's just basic economics really and what many many companies do (oil, diamonds, gold etc etc). It is wrong that they don't fix the leaks but 2 wrongs don't make a right. They will be doing their bit and we should do ours. Putting it all on the water company is like the ridiculous people who think it's the government's responsibility to sort society out rather than ours.

I like my neighbours but i'd report them if they used their hosepipe during a ban period....

OFWAT is forcing the water companies to address leaks and I agree it is shocking how much water is lost. However, the reality is that leak fixing will take a lot of time and we are facing a massive water shortage (in the south in particular) NOW, due to the dry winters not replacing the groundwater levels (not because of leaks). If we dont use water responsibly, then we will have to go to standpipes and anther dry winter and this will happen anyway.

Recent research I have been involved with indicates that everyone will move to meters, we will all pay more for our water, water poverty will be a real issue and consumers will need to address their water use.

Incidentally, a rough rule of thumb for water meters is that if you have more bedrooms than people in your house, you will save money with a water meter.