To stick to the hosepipe ban …

[HosePipeNoMore]

… and to think that people who don’t are selfish with no consideration of the overall good of society.

And it will be really galling if the selfish f**rs down the street are ignoring the ban and filling their kids pool up

I d say it s equal to ireland. Here we dont even pay for water usage… the network is a complete disgrace.

The privatisation of and lack of sanctions for water companies are the problem

Agree

we have some of the worst water in Europe.

Disagree. Our water comes from the reservoirs in the Pennines and is excellent.

I don't understand why the water companies CEOs are giving themselves bonuses. My understanding of bonuses, IME, is if you have achieved or exceeded targets. In the case none of the execs have, and these "bonuses" should be reinvested in the infrastructure.

The selfish fuckers are the executives of the water companies who allow their millions in profits to go to shareholders instead of upgrading the system to prevent water leakage.

A couple of years ago my water company allowed cow shit into our water. Actual cow shit got into our drinking water and it caused an outbreak of cryptosporidium in my local area.

They lied about it for weeks and then on the day that they finally acknowledged yes, this is an issue and it’s caused by cow shit, they also gave their CEO a bonus of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

So forgive me if I laugh in their faces when they say I can’t use my hosepipe. It’s probably not even safe for anything but the plants anyway.

The UK has shit loads of rain and could manage water supply properly if there was the will. I intend to continue hose piping.

Have you never voted? Because all the main political parties (including Reform) recognise the need for immigration to keep our economy going. To say nothing of the health service, care industry and numerous others. Therefore if you've voted, you've voted for immigration.

Same in our street.

I have stuck to the hosepipe ban every year since I got a garden 10 years ago. Last year it was 6 months of ban, only lifted in October. But this year I’m seeing my neighbour using a sprinkler on their lawn, a man up the road watering his hydrangeas, and I’m wondering why I’ve bothered with buckets and bath water if I’m the only one. Our water company is losing hundreds of millions of litres every day due to leaks and the condition of the pipes, when there is a heavy downpour they pump “water” into the sea because they can’t process it. Yet they give away free plugs and shower heads as though us doing our washing up is the problem (never any free water butts though). I don’t know if I can take personal responsibility for a water shortage anymore just because I don’t want my plants and vegetables to die

I'm exempt but I set up a drip timer and a lot of drip irrigation lines last year, into the greenhouse and into several large pots. They use very little water (barely any change in our metered water consumption/bill) and they are very effective in keeping plants alive. I did my research, bought a cheap set from Amazon (and a pricey timer) and set them up so that they are easy to change for different plants' needs. Since seeing how well they work I've bought extra piping and emitters and extended them to other parts of the garden. On my bad days even using a hosepipe is too much for me, so setting up the drip lines was an energy and money gamble that has worked out brilliantly.

Later this year I plan to remove some of the garden flowers/ornamentals that didn't do well in the heatwave/drought and replace them with food plants (zero food miles/chemicals and reduced cost of living for us), watered by dripper lines, to turn the borders into productive, pottager style planting. Having water in the borders will also help the remaining flowers so will in turn better support birds and pollinators.

I was unable to sow/plant for the first half of this year due to an injury, so the greenhouse is empty and those lines have been rejigged slightly and moved to a patch of lawn DH leveled and sowed new seed on 3 weeks ago. The new grass has already grown and we'll be able to stop watering it in another few weeks.

It won't help with paddling pools but I strongly recommend drip irrigation for saving water, time, energy and keeping plants alive.

I would be exempt as I have a blue badge for my walking difficulties and could not use a watering can to carry grey water from the house. I have a lot of patio pots with well established bushes in as I struggle to access the lawned area so I do try to water them every couple of days. If I had to though, I think I would comply and just try to keep a couple watered which have new bushes I planted this year. Plants can be replaced if they die

However, living in Manchester, I think the last time we had a hosepipe ban was in 1976 and according to all the maps I’ve seen this week, we are not in an area threatened by hosepipe bans, it rained a lot earlier this year, my garden was flooded several times!

Absolutely correct!

I wasn’t aware of any hosepipe bans - I’m in Kent.

I don’t have a hose anyway. I water my garden by hand.

And me!

We need to stop bowing down to everything these companies say. Why should we, who already pay over the odds for something as basic as water, save it to stop them having to sort the issues out?

All but one of our local reservoirs were almost dry last year. The water companies don't help themselves but we're all going to suffer if they all run dry.

This is how it makes you feel. We've had a leak (caused by the water company, ironically) for 3 weeks and they've only just fixed it. Apparently it was leaking at the rate of 80 litres an hour. Which is thousands of wasted litres.

We had cow shit in our water a couple of years ago!

I don’t think they’ve the nerve to ask us to do a hosepipe ban now, to be honest. It would cause a revolt

I’ve voted unreasonable as you are obviously not coming to this with open ears but rather keep making your own point.

Fwiw I would probably take notice of a hosepipe ban but feel the real issue is the shoddy way the water companies are run.

I'm pretty sure the thousands of litres running down our road 24 hours a day, every single day for the last 2 months (that the water company know about but so far have 0 plans to fix) is doing far more damage to water levels than people filling a paddling pool or watering some flowers. Same with the thousands of litres running down another 2 roads in town due to leaky water pipes that again have not been fixed.

Maybe instead of giving themselves and shareholders huge profits the water companies should spend that money on infrastructure and building new reservoirs. It rained non stop September to February. Perhaps if the water companies actually fixed the massive leaks and built some new infrastructure we wouldn't be in this position.

We don't have a hose pipe ban round here but, TBH, we very rarely use one anyway. Our garden is mostly shrubs which are mature enough not to need watering and the rest that does need it I can easily do with a watering can. I would never water a lawn. However brown they get they always recover.

I have used the hosepipe just twice earlier this year; both times so I could use the Kärcher to clean the patio and the drive.

Actually when we get our water bill there is always something on the back which says how much water a household of our size uses on average. Comparing that to how much we actually use we are way under the average. I don't think we are especially careful. We shower regularly, flush at every visit, use a washing machine and dishwasher etc. I don't know what everyone else is doing to use so much. Is it the difference between baths and showers?

There are some really selfish and stupid posters on here. Carry on as with your twat behaviour if you want but you aren't getting one over the system if you are metered. You pay what you use for fresh water and pay for what you put down the drain. Don't moan about your water bills increasing.
Another point to consider, as the climate change progresses, there will be less water anyway, how are your kids /grandkids going to manage with reduced water when stand pipes are introduced in years to come if they've been used to seeing their parents taking the 'fuck the bans I'll use what I want' as youngsters?
Lived with standpipes in 1976, one pipe for about 20 houses. it's no fun.

You do you. I think the whole thing is ridiculous and water companies should sort their own houses first. It takes bloody ages to drag a watering can around or fill the paddling pool without a hose.

If only we all lived in the pennines....

South West Water were ultimately prosecuted for supplying water unfit for human consumption due to a cryptosporidium parasite outbreak in Brixham, Devon, in May 2024.
The utility firm was fined £1.85 million in June 2026 for this failure.
People are paying to be made unwell.

Thames Water: Fined a record-breaking £122.7 million in May 2025. This included £104.5 million for failing to manage its wastewater network and routine sewage spills, and £18.2 million for paying improper shareholder dividends.

South East Water: Facing a proposed £22 million penalty for severe supply and infrastructure failures.

Yorkshire Water: Fined over £700,000 for repeated sewage releases.

It's an absolute disgrace...

That is a waste of time if collecting rain water only.
It rains and fills the butt over winter when you least need the water. In the summer once the butt is empty and there is no rain...🙄