To just ignore the hose pipe ban this year

[Shan5474]

I know using a hose pipe is against the rules so I am BU but I’m fed up.

I live alone with no kids, all the neighbouring houses have at least four people in the family. I love gardening and I grow fruit, veg and flowers in a medium-sized garden. Last year we had a hose pipe ban almost solidly from May-October. We have one every summer (south coast).

I want to be a good person/neighbour, I just get so bloody frustrated when I can hear my neighbour’s shower drain constantly or them splashing in hot tubs/paddling pools in the summer while I’m taking ages filling watering can after watering can, when it would only take 5-10 mins to water the garden with a hose sprayer.

WIBU to just quickly use the hose in the summer? The neighbours can hear it, will they judge me? I know water use is per person not per household but the amount of showering/clothes washing/dishwasher use in the neighbouring houses must be way more than the extra water I’d use by just running the hose

We are not currently under one and they haven’t mentioned it in advance. But we have at least one every year. There are constant burst pipes when the weather is very hot or cold and after heavy rainfall they pump sewage into the sea so I feel the lack of water is partly the water company’s fault along with the rain levels

Which water company? Have you looked at their water reserves or plans?

I tried using shower water last year, I ended up trailing water through the house and it took ages going up and down the stairs. I am definitely considering a water butt though

I'm exempt from a hosepipe ban. But I don't really plan on having any pots this year. So use your hosepipe instead of me!

I use mine as normal and take no notice of bans

Put a plug in the bath and a hose out the window. Siphon it.

South East Water. I am just having a look, it says the two biggest reservoirs are 80-100% full nearly all year so I assume I’m not supplied by them. They are considering a scheme to treat “wastewater effluent” to recycle the water. Maybe I will call and ask about their hose pipe ban plan 😅

I ignored it last year in terms of watering tomatoes and chillis in the greenhouse, just left the hose in there ready to switch on at the tap, and only had it on a gentle spray setting, but it takes about five seconds to water stuff vs ten minutes with the watering can. I didn't use the hose in the garden generally though throughout the duration of the ban. Because it rained enough anyway!

Normally I can see where the water company are coming from when there really is a long dry spell and support a ban, but I just thought last year South East Water were absolutely taking the piss (which they literally do of course 😂).

We had above average rainfall for the first three months of 2023 then an average April and May, then we had about four weeks of regularly pleasant weather before they introduced a ban.

Fuck. Off. Stop taking forever to fix leaks and stop releasing pollution into the rivers and seas. And build some fucking reservoirs.

YABU, the families around you will be paying more to use 4 people’s worth of water than you are for 1 person.

You need to get your water butt sorted now if you’re predicting a dry spring / summer and want it to fill up with rain water!

Apparently we are filthy anyway, SE Water said we use 40% less water than a usual family of four when they started to monitor our use 😂Wasn't sure whether to be proud or ashamed.

@shearwater2 Yes it wasn’t super hot, then we had some really heavy rain, they dumped a load of sewage in the sea and said the reservoirs were really low! And they say if they fix all the old leaking pipes the cost will be passed onto customers. My flowers wilt while they’re losing the water themselves 😂

I'm on the south coast too. Not only have Southern Water grid locked the entire city for weeks on end closing a road for repairs that should have been done decades ago, they now say we're still water stressed after the wettest few months on record. I'm minded to turn all my taps on and leave them on (I won't).
Use yout hose OP.

I’m on a meter so would pay extra to use the hose. But yes I do need to get a butt soon

I live in the Thames Water area and its rare there isn't a pipe leak causing chaos around the area. Nobody listens to them when they talk about drought.

Will anyone know or care?

As long as you’re not leaving your lawn sprinkler on for entire evenings (our neighbours), I’d say crack on.

Actually I have very slightly slandered SE Water, I’m with them for taps and Southern Water for wastewater. It’s Southern who do most of the sea sewage

Why do you think your neighbours use more water per person than you do? How does that make sense? I would hazard a guess that my family uses less water than 4 single people because we never run the washing machine or dishwasher half empty, and we often share a bath. Having said all that, I do think that water companies need to fix their leaks as well as upgrade their infrastructure to adapt it to the changing climate.

I live alone with no kids, all the neighbouring houses have at least four people in the family.

Are you not a meter? Worry about your own use, not others.

I don't even own a hosepipe but you could get around this by just laying a hosepipe flat on the floor edged around your lawn and opening the tap in the morning or evening to water the general area. Neighbours are unlikely to notice.

There is no shortage of water as we have seen with the wettest 12months since 1830.

What there is, is a shortage of reservoir storage from winter to summer and a lack of repairs to leaky pipes by the water companies.

There was a suggestion many years ago to put back into use the canal network both for leisure purposes and to allow the transport of raw water from north to south. The northern water companies were all up for it as they could sell the water for a nice profit whereas the southern water companies not surprisingly objected and it went nowhere.

Why do you think your neighbours use more water per person than you do?

No they use more as a household. So iwbu if it was calculated per person but iwnbu if it was calculated per household because the water their house uses in showers mine would use for the garden

But you shower as well, I hope? Why should you be allowed more water than each one of them?

I'll be making sure to take any hosepipe ban just as seriously as the water companies take fixing leaks, building reservoirs and reducing sewerage discharges.

Wow! You think you should be entitled to use more water in a shortage situation because you live on your own?

that’s some chutzpah.

What an odd thing to be worrying about now, in April, when we’ve had a ridiculously wet few months anyway…