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 **' 🫣

Hey I got a water meter and under Wessex Water, which is the 2nd highest in the country for water rates. My car has not been washed in months and it needed doing.

It's not stagnant. It's chlorinated and we've got a pool pump. It also gets cleaned manually on a regular basis. It's not a tiny paddling pool.
Have you never been to a swimming pool? Do you think they change the water every day? That would be insane.

Small paddling pool for kids/the dog fine.

washing the car? Don't be a divy! Paying for water used, doesn't create water. If things get so bad you have to queue with a bucket at a standing pipe, you'll soon learn

YABVU, England is already water stressed and another heat wave is predicted. Paddling pools, clean cars and gardens aren’t essential and there is a risk of supply being restricted. Even Scotland and Wales are putting restrictions in place to protect supply.

They really, really don't 😂

They're cleaned daily but the pools are emptied maybe every few years at best. It takes DAYS to empty and refill a public pool.

There is no hosepipe ban here.

Once I've washed the car with a bucket of water that is it

Not daily, but more frequently than every 4 months! & I didn't realise you didn't mean a tiny paddling pool on a thread about tiny paddling pools

Lol. They don’t. It takes DAYS. My DC have lessons in a smallish 20m private pool. They have incredibly strict rules on double swim nappies for young children and fine parents who don’t comply with this if their child has a poo leak, as it means draining and refilling the whole pool and takes a minimum of two days before the pool can be safely used again.

Fill it up.

im still watering my grass 🤷🏼‍♀️

When you pay for water, that's actually your contribution to the infrastructure needed to collect and process the water.
I hate analogies but It's a bit like going to a buffet and grabbing all the sausage rolls and putting them on your plate saying you've paid for them. Yes you have but there are limited quantities.
Same as celebrities flying their private jets around with no passengers, yes they've paid for them but it's burning too much fuel and everyone pays the price.

You'll be disappointed...

Generally, pools can keep the same water for several years, depending on cleaning techniques and pool conditions. Especially with larger pools, it wouldn't be cost effective or environmentally friendly to keep replacing the water.

you are watering the grass, and I'm getting it in the neck for washing the car

I recently bought a ten foot one that holds ~3000L and I'm slowly filling it. I'm in the NE, though I'm not sure if that really makes a difference at the moment! Also any "run off" water from waiting for hot water gets caught and added, along with the left overs from the kettle.

If yours is small, then maybe a few of the big 5L bottles might be the way to go?

Ha ha … Im also under Wessex water too. We pay enough for the water and my rabbits need grass to eat so it gets watered.

If I have to stand in a queue for water one day il send the kids 😂

How is using water wasting it?

And other similar posts..... guess you guys don't read/watch the news then.

I watch the news.

But until water companies start giving a shit and fix leaks instead of leaving them for weeks/months on end, Jane at number 22 not filling up a paddling pool isn't going to make the blindest bit of difference.

We have a massive 10ft pool which has been filled since june and has chemicals and a pump in to keep it clean. DS is autistic and water is his happy place. We are in the SE and ive told the children to keep the water in the pool as we wont be refilling it or topping it up regularly. Days out are hard with DS so the pool is where most of the summer is spent. I dont feel guilty for having it but I know one neighbour in particular has been making comments about it. Same neighbour has had a sprinkler on her grass everyday for the last month and uses the hose to water her flowers.

Weve been using waste water from the bath (which all 3 children share) on our flowers since the water butts dried out.

FFS! It's everybody's business! We're in the middle of the worst drought for years and years.

That is such an irresponsible thing to say.

It’s not really everybody’s business at all. Mind your own.

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

It's a finite resource at the moment, whether we pay for it or not. There's no rain forecast for the next few weeks at least.
When it's gone it's gone.

Don't feel guilty.
Our children deserve to stay cool in this heat. We don't all live by the seaside.

We use the water in our paddling pool to water the plants and base of our fruit trees with buckets when we take it down and then spread it out over the lawn so more of the tree roots get it as well.

I thought the exact same thing for my toddler and baby. We could just count it as their bath for the day op 😁

These sorts of threads always make me a bit depressed. It’s the ‘I’m all right Jack…no-one else’s business…I’ve paid for it’.

Climate change and over-population and all their associated problems are everyone’s business, unfortunately. We all have to try harder (unless we’re really not bothered about what sort of lives our children and grandchildren will live).

If you live somewhere where there isn’t currently a water shortage and where you still get rain: lucky you. Enjoy watering your grass and washing your car!

That's why I said it depends on the pool. You can also get covers for those blow up Intex pools, for example, and then the water can stay in for a few days without having to be replaced. You'd still have to clean it, though.
Friends of ours have a large in-ground pool. They replace the water once a year...and only because it gets bloody freezing here in the winter (around -20 sometimes) and it could damage it otherwise.