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 **' 🫣

Where I live, in the same street there has been one leak for 2 years and one for about 7 months. Both gushing water and to the extent that where they are the pavement can't be used because algae type plants have grown over it. Hard to believe they've been rushed off their feet fixing other leaks in all that time...

I've been reading this thread and wonder how many of those saying "don't do it" have stopped showering daily, not flushing the loo, only washing clothes once a week and doing it by hand, washing up by hand etc. I do remember 1976, although I was very little and can certainly remember sharing the weekly bath water and Mum emptying the bath with buckets to water the garden! The twin tub washing machine was also emptied into the garden to water the veg.
If you are under a hosepipe ban then it would be unreasonable to fill the paddling pool - if not then go ahead and reuse the water in the garden.

The greed of the general public as a collective always amazes me. Whenever something is scarce they seem to buy/use extra for themselves, to take excess before it runs out for everyone.

A prime example is when shelves were sparse in the early days of covid. People buying far too much food, then the following week the papers were full of pictures of overflowing bins where the greedy people had simply thrown the excess, now put of date food away. Meanwhile I'll never forget the photo of the bewildered elderly man holding a basket and his list and staring at the empty shelves

Hot tub water lasts for months if properly treated more efficient than filling and refilling paddling pools

I watered my garden with the filthy paddling pool water my dogs use. That was 3 days ago I filled it up, now I've filled it again which hopefully will last all week. I was about 7 when it was a bad heat wave, we were in France at the time. All I remember that it was very hot.

I haven’t showered for several days when I would normally shower daily. I am wfh so not really getting dirty so a quick ‘flannel wash is fine’.

I haven’t put on a wash for a couple of weeks - we have plenty of clean clothes we can wear for now , it is just an inconvenience having full laundry bins hanging about but one I can easily deal with. We will wash urgent stuff as needed in one full load (eg underwear) I have an eco washing machine that weighs the clothes and uses less water but I grew up washing all my clothes by hand (poverty) so can do that easily if needed.

We have washing up bowls in every sink so when we wash hands etc, the water is put into buckets and used on the garden, nothing is wasted.

I have got everyone in the house using the ‘light flush’ button on the toilet.

We are using the dishwasher, it is an eco model on eco mode and uses less water than washing by hand. If we didn’t use it, the kitchen would be a mess fast.

I am feeding our local foxes and badgers, the latter are particularly hungry as they mainly eat worms which they cannot get in a drought. Lots of wildlife water bowls out plus a very well-loved birdbath!

The bees and other pollinators are struggling as thirsty plants flower less and produce less nectar - so I have bought extra bee food plants and will be especially watering the plants that the bees and butterflies like. If we lose pollinators year on year in droughts, we are all stuffed…

Devastatedyetagain, like Phrenologist we at least try - 3 minute showers with water flow reducer in shower heads and in summer water turned off while actually getting washed, use short flush on loo, also use grey water from washing machine and shower run off in loo, one laundry wash a week with a second wash for bedding and towels each fortnight, 3 huge water butts in garden for watering pots and roses, washing windows and car (a rare occurrence ). Tap runoff used for household cleaning.

Apart from pots and roses nothing in the garden is watered, beds are well mulched and the lawn comes back as soon as it rains

Reading some of the comments on this thread and seeing neighbours using their lawn sprinklers all day in last month's heat makes me wonder why we bother but hey ho.