Wasting water in a heatwave. Private schools keeping grounds green with sprinklers..

[ifonlytheydlisten]

I’ve seen this twice now this week whilst everywhere else has bans or people just accepting grass will be hay and water in short supply. Opposite end of spectrum to wild wire concerns and grassland burning near us. Do they have wierd exception? Is it just me that it really winds me up as entitled? It’s made me really annoyed.

Car washes everywhere are doing the same.

Car washes recycle their water

Completely agree, what a waste.

Perhaps Boris Johnson ordered it personally, in advance of his reunion of Eton alumni, as the only forward planning he has done in his life.

No they don’t, at least those on my local Sainsbury’s don’t.

They might have a bore hole, or a reservoir of rain water. I have friends with a large property in Essex who have both.

Can't have the rich having brown grass can we now.

Think of the grass though, it'll be so happy.

I saw watering going on at a new office complex today .

We shouldn't be in such a dire water shortsge in the first place.

Surely you can report anyone you think isn't following the ban, especially businesses? Builders at my friend's house keep leaving her hose on all day despite her asking them to be careful (she is on a meter for another point). They don't care and are working on a dozen other houses at the same time... Personally I'd rather water went on keeping grass and plants alive than leaking onto roads and pavements because Chinese and Australian banks want profits instead of fixing pipeworks.

I saw this last week too. I was so astonished and really couldn't understand the point. It was very startling to see this patch of lush green grass when everywhere around it was completely yellow. I might have understood if it was a sports field, but it was just the lawn in front of the school.

The car washes I do understand. Whilst washing your car isn't essential to a car owner, the water is essential for the car wash businesses to run their business, so in that sense it seems right that it's permitted. But so think it would be pretty silly and irresponsible for someone to get their car washed. I know that probably sounds like double standards, but for me it's about the necessity aspect. It's essential for the business to provide the service, but it's not an essential service to have.

I've very recently had new turf laid and if I let it die it will need replacing again because its not fully established yet so I am sprinkling my lawn from time to time. I'm sure my neighbours think I'm an arsehole but replacing my entire lawn a second time would be worse for the environment in the longer term so I just crack on.

So you are doing us all a favour by watering your lawn?

Can't you just use a watering can as per the rules?

They are exempt and allowed to water sports pitches. State schools with sports pitches are also allowed to water them.

@WatchingTheStarsFromMyHammockthat’s how I felt. Found it really really odd and made me really annoyed. But I accept that maybe they have a bore hole or similar. Just seems so wasteful and unneeded.
I accept that car washes need to
make a living.
bbq manufacturers will be missing out on huge sales now!

This wasn’t sports grounds either time. It was the lawns / areas in front of the schools. The pretty bits

@ifonlytheydlisten They actually had the sprinklers on when we were there! Bold as brass

Trees planted in the current planting season (ie within the last year) can be watered, so that is probably what they were doing.

And private schools don’t have people there who need to make a living? So why can car washes use as much water as they want but schools cannot?

What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Does no one see the main issue is we have to have hosepipe bans on an island? Our water services are so poorly maintained they have decided to pit the people paying bills against each other rather than use the profits to keep the system working properly.

Report them then.🤷‍♀️

The private school I work at has its own borehole. We are not on mains water.

We have a hosepipe ban because of the shitty water companies, the drought, the concreting over or every single square inch of green space and the booming population.

It’s more complex than just the useless water companies.

How does using a sprinkler system on the front lawn make them a living? Are fees refundable for periods when the frontage is unsightly?