Hosepipe

[DireStraights]

My neighbours went out 5 hours ago and have left the sprinklers on.

We get on really well. We are often in each other’s garden watering plants (when it’s not a drought) grabbing each other’s footballs, kids play in either garden together, feeding pets etc

My husband wants to go and turn sprinkler off. I’m weighing it up. I can’t actually believe they have done it as it very selfish but I can’t deal with any conflict.

what would you do?

I’d be really pissed off if someone came into my garden while I was out, without checking. I’d text them first.

Well fucking stop it now. What's the point? Your lawn or plants can die off now or later. The pending ban is not an invitation to use as much as you can now. It's a fucking heads up that this resource is SCARCE.

Well said @HMSSophia

If you're friendly enough to feed pets when they are away, you must have their mobile number- just text and ask them if they meant to leave it on .

Letter To The Daily Telegraph (not mine!)

It’s time for a serious conversation about water usage, rather than a knee-jerk call for hosepipe bans by the Environment Secretary George Eustice. Here in the South, water leakage rates are about 25%. So of the total water supplied only 75% is available. Commercial and agriculture use 90% of that water, leaving 10% for domestic customers.

According to Water UK, a hosepipe ban saves 10% of that water. Doing the sums shows a hosepipe ban saves only 0.75% of water supplied. As leaks account for 25% of water, Eustice should deal with the water suppliers, rather than imposing a hosepipe ban for metered water that we pay for already.
Larry Armitstead, Medstead, Hampshire

I'd still turn the sprinklers off, and assume they had forgotten about them.

That is the reason water will be rationed. Just because you are not legally obliged to turn them off does not make using a sprinkler for 5 plus hours acceptable even in non drought conditions. But there are drought conditions.

About pipe leaks ... if they don't spill out onto pavement or straight to sewers, they tend to recharge groundwater. It's expensive (treated safe water) but it's not, strictly speaking, "wasted" water given most regions of UK get at least some of the water supply from groundwater.

Also, the drought means ground shifting, and pipes being unsupported, so then they shift & leak. You will never stop all leaks happening, especially with cycles of drought-flood being possible. Water companies fix them, new ones happen, it's a constant effort.

Leaking sewers (into ground only) can also be a semi good thing, btw, more groundwater recharge.

Maybe OP can send her kids around to play in the sprinklers. That's what we did on hot days, play in neighbours' sprinklers when I was growing up (1960s+).

I would be tempted to switch them off in that situation under the pretext that they might have forgotten.