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.

Complaining about the symptom while we ignore the problem. Reason we are here is because we are spouting too much CO2 in the air.
And no I’m not a Green Party voter or supporter before anyone starts having a go.

It is high time the gov heavily subsidise cleaner energy use and better insulated homes. My household has managed to do it because we are able but I appreciate not many can do so, this is where Gov subsidies come in. And guess what? it’s actually significantly cheaper all round.

You really shouldn't use those type of businesses. They may be cheap but they're exploiting people. Always use companies that provide VAT receipts and digital payment tracking. A quick Google will tell you which ones in your local area are reputable.

Every single private school I’ve ever used has provided all of that.

I agree OP that using wholesome drinking water to keep a lawn green is wasteful.

I would be complaining if I was using a fee paying business that choose to do this as it's wasting everyone's time and money.

If I lived in an area with a hosepipe ban I would be raging that business they were a business they felt if right to water in this way

It'll be raining again soon.

@5128gap sadly true often. If a car wash / valet is less than about £20-30 you need to question the set up. Police would tell you that.
Agree that we need investment in green energy and don’t get me started on water companies but my observation was in the here & now this week. Wildfires everywhere. BBQ bans etc and wierd oasis of bright green lawn sprinkling in the middle

Last reservoir built in Britain was 1992. Population increase since then about 13million. Let’s address the actual issue.

I'm sure they have. I was talking about the dodgy car washes you seem to frequent and advising you there are reputable ones which would be a better choice.
Anyway that's irrelevant to whether the school are acting responsibly in unnecessarily watering their front lawn, isn't it?

It's important to wash cars though - mine was filthy and honestly it was getting to the point where I couldn't see out of the windows properly, so it's a safety thing as much as anything else.

Check with your own water company, but ours allows it.

The dodgiest the better.

I also haggle the price down, I never pay full price.

You should try it, it’s fun.

And when was last sewage treatment plant built I wonder. Instead even after weeks of no rain the water companies are spilling into rivers and beaches due to volumes. Seriously grim (should only happen when heavy rain)

Shouldn't happen at all!!

You’re allowed 28 days if you’re a business. Not sure re private

I live in London and was on a bus today by Regent's Park. Grove House, which appears to be owned by the Omani royal family had extremely green lawns when everything else looks like the Seregenti.

The biggest wasters of water are the water companies themselves. Building no reservoirs while our population has increased and failing to keep pipes functional. They lose more in leaks than we could ever hope to save by washing less and letting our plants die.

They're still charging us the same despite all this. And a chunk of our street has a dribble of water pressure because of a leak they have no interest in.

Personally I think we should stop making ourselves suffer to protect these organisations earning millions off of us and failing to provide what we pay for. We should be able to use the water we need and pay for and they should be responsible for providing it.

This is not an ecological issue. We had the wettest winter on record. They really have no excuse.

Not this again. There are so many posts moaning about golf courses/cricket pitches/private schools. It’s strange that I haven’t seen a single post about football pitches or state schools. The same rules apply to everyone. If you feel there is a breach of the rules, report them. Around our area, I’ve only seen the watering of areas which fall under an exemption (eg cricket wickets and golf greens).

Agree @Mumtotornadoes the whole water company thing makes me so angry. Huge profits and bonuses. Owned by foreign companies. No investment or significant upgrades etc Leaks not sorted. Sewage into waterways. Not sure how we change it tho

It’s really not a good look and the sports pitch excuse bothers me. There are football pitches up and down the country which are parched, local league teams will be playing when the season starts. If they can manage, so can the private schools.

This country IS in a terrible state though and the water companies don’t seem to ever be accountable.

This, times one million.

Very true re pitches. Literally 99% of pitches are baked solid. I was reading FA guidance about this earlier. Unless it rains soon, grassroots football season will start on the equivalent of concrete

Why? If they don’t have to manage?

They probably have their own private water supplies, thus are exempt from the ban.

I chose DD’s private school solely on the quality of their grass.

I view with disdain state schools and their yellow lawns.

Most years that's true, but I'm more doubtful this year as the crispy well trodden parts have been walked bare..there's no crispy bits left. It just bare ground. I think I'm going to be planting something more robust next year.

There were a lot of complaints about a private school near me watering it's grounds that include a sports pitch with sprinklers. What the complainants didn't realise was they have a rainwater collection/storage system that collects rainwater in the winter for use in the summer, precisely so they can keep that part of the grounds in good condition. It's perhaps possible other places have something similar?

In my area we have a new housing estate with a sprinkler running in every garden to protect the new laid turf. The houses aren’t selling, open day was more than a year ago. Total waste of water. And we have a golf course with sprinklers running - equally pointless.
Our two private schools have grass just as brown as everyone else’s. They have more sense and know that as soon as it rains, the lawns will green up beautifully.