Confused about the hosepipe ban

[ButWheresTheRumGone]

I know this is really stupid, but I’m confused by the ban! I’ve seen that they’re bringing in the ban in North Yorkshire, but my water is from a spring, so I don’t pay for it. I don’t have a water company, and literally have no idea where the water actually comes from, except from out the taps! So do I come under the hose pipe ban? Or am I ok to still use the paddling pool etc because we’ve not been told not to where I live?

In eat Riding they said this:

"People can still undertake the above activities without using a hosepipe if they use tap water from a bucket or watering can; or use water that is not sourced from taps such as grey water, rainwater from a water butt, or a private borehole, for example. "

Sorry that should say in the East Riding.

@Nowyouseemenowy0udont so that sounds like I can use my water still then? I think!

I think so, if it’s not from a water supplier.

You probably want to check the state of your spring though. You may be running very very short. We used to stay at a place in North Wales and they had their own spring for water, and if water companies were threatening hosepipe bans they had normally been very careful with their water supplies for a few weeks.

Legally, yes you can still use your hosepipe. However, you may still want to be considerate of your usage as even springs can run dry. If you look at any of the environment agency water reports you can see what the groundwater and river levels are like near you.

Yup. Our well used to be very low in some summers that we had to self impose "bans" so second this

@MargaretThursday i don’t actually know where the spring is, so I can’t check it? How would I find it?

@ButWheresTheRumGone

I don't know-the one in Wales had like a little stone hut built over it, if I'm remembering rightly.
It might be on your house deeds, or if you share with neighbours then ask them.
Sorry I can't be more helpful!

Sorry, just being nosey now.

How can you not know where your water comes from? Surely it has to be treated, somehow, and you can't just drink water straight from a spring?

Am I being very daft? I just find it very interesting...

You can drink water coming from underground straight away. Lots of houses still have wells. It's different to ground water in streams (where you most likely have dead animals or poop in somewhere along the way).
I was young so don't know if my parents were testing ours sometimes. What I do remember was "eeerrrm whaddaya think ya doing" when I was filling up a bath

Also, drunk water from forest spring for decades. It was sweetish like. Miss it

@CravenRaven honestly I’m a bit embarrassed to admit this! When I moved in I took over the bills. Contacted the landlord to say I’ve not received a bill for water and he told me I was. The water is clean and fresh, I checked with the neighbours (everyone is on it) and they said they were born and bred on it and they’ve turned out alright so not to worry :)

@MargaretThursday thanks, I should have thought of that! I checked with the next door neighbour and she said there’s a water committee and they check it monthly and feedback if it’s getting low 🤷🏼‍♀️

I think you're missing the point of the message in that everyone needs to conserve water.

Just because you legally can fill a paddling pool with drinking water during a drought doesn't mean you should.

I live in a village and all the water comes from a borehole.

However this forms part of the southern water table.

So we have a hosepipe ban, but the controller of the water borehole said that we are entering into it voluntarily and ours didn't start until 3 days after the main ban started.

Our water goes through a monitoring station and is frequently tested. We often have to go onto boiled water if the levels are wrong!

@tickticksnooze but if the water level in our spring is fine then why would I need to conserve water? It would have any effect on anyone else’s water supply and seems silly to do it as an act of solidarity?

@actiongirl1978 that sounds similar to ours! Too much rain and I buy bottled water for a few days 😁

Probably be chilly by the time the ban comes in in a couple of weeks and you won't need the pool