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

YANBU to feel like it's unfair. People who use water wastefully (especially when they are adding chemicals to it like soaps, bleach, dishwasher tablets etc) are adding to the problem. We don't all need to shower/bath every day and have all clean clothes every day. It's awful for the planet. Awful for many people's skin too.

I would hate to see my lovely garden go brown and crisp in the sun because I couldn't water it adequately, while listening to the neighbours drains going all the time and them splashing about in a pool (as PPs have said, how are they filling said pool anyway?).

I would be tempted as well but probably still not do it as I'm too worried about being caught!

We have an IBC container in our garden and 4 water butts. We use a hose to empty grey water out of the bathroom window and into the IBC. They're more than sufficient to keep us going all year round.

Are you sure you're not allowed to use a hose to water veg though? It's an exception to hosepipe bans usually. I carried on using a hose on my allotment last summer during a ban, it was allowed.

I have sympathy if you're watering fruit and veg, less so for flowers and zero sympathy for lawns. Water is like any other essential utility. You wouldn't keep all your lights on just because your neighbours do? That's a waste of electricity and costs a bomb. Why is water less valued?

In the longer term, many, many more reservoirs are needed to hold the winter rains for use in the summer droughts. And, Water Companies, fix the leaks and the shit in the rivers too.

Frankly considering that it has been raining almost everyday for months, the water companies would be taking the piss if they called for a ban...

All the reservoirs should be full and considering our summers last about 5 minutes there should be no need for any of that nonsense.

It doesn't quite work like that. They've built no new reservoirs in decades and with a growing population and poor storage of water, even the wettest of winters can be followed by hosepipe bans in some areas.

Where do you live?

It's been pissing it down absolutely everywhere, reservoirs are full, water tables high and I'd be utterly amazed if anywhere had a ban this year

In this country you can collect rain water and water the entire neighborhood.

Hose pipe ban? This summer? Are you sure?

What water company are you? We have had almost record rainfall/

Small town in Sussex with South East Water. The pipes are absolutely shocking and can’t cope with temperatures above 20 or below 5

I knowww it is 😩 I just want to water the garden without so much faff. My ex boyfriend takes four showers a day, surely they could impose some kind of personal ban and I could use some of that water for my hose??? 😩😂

Im not strong enough to manage a watering can as I have disabilities in my hands. I use a hose. Not sure what I would do if caught or fined, I dont have 'cant use watering can' on my medical notes, only the diagnosis of the thing Ive got which doesnt tell anyone how it affects my day to day

Fill a paddling pool in your garden and use the water from that for your plants?

The hose pipe ban is a bit random but it’s there mainly because it’s something they can enforce (to the extent it ever is) without being too intrusive. Watching everyone shower on the other hand…

Yabu. Get a water butt.

Do the people saying 'fuck it just use the hosepipe' or "I'll be using it this year because my plants aren't going to suffer because the water companies are crap' realise why these bans come in to place and the reality of literally not having enough water?

There probably won’t be a hosepipe ban this summer!

Just use the hose op. Some cuts of meat use the same amount of water as leaving a shower running constantly for 3 MONTHS yet we can walk into Sainsbury's and buy them without any penalty. The government have got it all wrong!

I understand the frustration but you're being unreasonable.

A) whilst hosepipe bans are indeed a blunt instrument, they are one of not many options - there is no way to legally restrict usage to houses, so it's all they've got.

B) Watering a garden with a hosepipe is easy but so wasteful! More water goes on the leaves/space between plants and just evaporates off than ever makes it into the soil to be used!

C) You're a keen gardener but don't even have a water butt?! They are pretty cheap and super easy to fit.

D) we are a country in water poverty in many places lots of the year. Yes, it rains a lot, but it's not enough in the east/south/southwest. There are whole Environment Agency reports about how most places will not have enough water to meet demand in the very near future. And we are fucked if we run out of water! Even when a pipe bursts and people are on bottled water only for a few days it's horrible and total carnage.

Yes your neighbours could do more, but being even more profligate in response is madness.

I believe you are allowed to use a hose to fill a water butt if it's empty. It's the constant running of a hose that wastes loads of water.

We have about 15 water butts, so rarely run out of water for the garden.

Hm out of the many water leaks last year there was a very big one and we were on bottled water for a couple of days and it was mayhem, people went into lockdown loo roll mode. Washing was a quick and interesting experience.

I do try to save water. I have a flow restrictor on the shower, a low capacity toilet, I use the water saving gel SE Water suggests in my flower pots, dehumidifier water for indoor plants, only do full loads of dishwasher and washing machine etc. I will get a water butt but I will also glare contemptedly at my neighbours who have lawn sprinklers and clean children

Get some water butts connected to your guttering down pipes.
However also put in some soaker hose on top of/ just underneath the soil.
Connect to the hose and no one will know you are watering your veg.

Who is this man who has four showers a day? Are you sure he was not just going to the bathroom for a different activity and turning the shower on to muffle the noise?

They are being more economical with water use by cohabiting, you are already using more.

Hosepipe ban? After all the rain?

Didn’t it rain non-stop for weeks while massive adverts were declaring “worst drought ever”?