to fill up our small paddling pool?

[PeanutBellyJam]

Okay quick poll...who is going to fill their toddlers paddling pools? We put water into ours this morning, half filled and then I read an email from our water company thanking everyone for saving water and encouraging us to shower less and now I'm filled with guilt and shame. I feel like the neighbours are all going from behind their blinds 'look at those ignorant arseholes at number **' 🫣

Just fill it up. It’ll probably be less than someone having a bath!

As long as it is only a paddling pool I don't think anyone will care
Use the water later on the plants!

There has been a bad water leak in our road for over a week, water board informed, no one done anything, so Im not going to take a lot of notice of water restrictions

If I fill one then I will be doing my best to make sure that the water lasts as long as possible - using a fitted sheet over it at night so it doesn't become an insect graveyard, and towels down so the kids feet aren't too grassy when they get in

We are showering less, not letting taps run, collecting hand-washing/rinse water for garden and I am only washing what clothes are most needed for a couple of weeks. We did fill our small 1m sq pond up yesterday because it was dangerously low and we didn’t want the frogs and fish to die in high temps next week.

If all of us in drought areas make an effort to be careful, hopefully that will reduce the likelihood of standpipes in the street, etc. And the water companies need to be held to account for their behaviour too!

That's no excuse. Many areas are encouraging people not to have a bath but use showers for less time to preserve water.

Just fill it up OP, it's nobody's business but yours x

Why do people think like this?

You have no idea what the water company are working on currently you don't know why they haven't been out to your fault.

And why is your thinking "well if they are wasting water, then it's ok for me to" ?

Yeah I do know that but after visiting a public gardens yesterday where they had all the sprinklers going literally non stop the whole 4 hours we were there I really can’t get uptight about someone filling up a paddling pool.

It's not wasting water if she's paying for it

Go for it op

It's a paddling pool and it's about to get really hot so I would do the same.

Once the kids have finished it you can use it for the garden so recycling the water.

I wouldn't even think about what my neighbours would think to be honest.

Depends on the pool, I guess. Can you keep the water in for longer or is it one of those little ones that gets dirty within 30 seconds and then the water needs tipping out at the end?
If it is one of the little ones, could you use the water at the end of the day to water the garden?
We filled ours up just after Easter and we haven't had to replace the water. It stays in all summer. I use chlorine and clean it frequently. We've also got a cover on top when it isn't being used.

How is using water wasting it?

It’s a pretty meaningless question without knowing where everyone is. We’ve been in SE England for the last few days and I was shocked at how dry and scorched everywhere was. Do you live somewhere already under a hosepipe ban or with one imminent?

Regardless, you’ve done it now. Cover it overnight to make it last a few days and then put it on the plants in the evening.

Your kids play in 4 month old stagnant water???

Crikey the mentality of some. Im old enough to remember standpipes in the summer of 73. Do you really want to end up having to use those? Because the longer people waste water this is what could happen again. Its no fun standing in line for a bucket of water during the 2 hours during the day they turn them on.

Are you under a hosepipe ban? If yes, - YABU, if no - YANBU

If you chlorinate it you can keep the same water all summer as we have done

It’s not stagnant if it’s chlorinated

How often do you think public swimming pools replace their water?!

How is it stagnant water when it's cleaned and chlorinated?

Do you think the water in public pools is changed daily?

I filled the dog paddling pool yesterday and washed my car. I pay enough in water rates as it is. I will use the water to water my plants, when the pool gets dirty.

And when we are all limited to standpipes in the street we all know who to blame.

@Afterfire when I managed a public garden, we had huge rainwater tanks underground and a private borehole. I’d suspect the gardens you went to were the same.

How often do you think public swimming pools replace their water?!

More frequently than every four(+) months.

In the current climate its wasting water if its not essential. A paddling pool isn't essential. I don't want to be using standpipes. We have Welsh Water which normally copes well in droughts. My uncle visited the Elan Valley the other day. The reservoirs are so low. More like a pond at the bottom of a big hole than the normal extensive lake we are used to seeing.