Are there any GENIUS plumbers on here who can think of a solution for me??

[LaurieFairyCake]

Cos me and the Homebase guy couldn't come up with one.

Imagine a standard garden tap and imagine it somewhere fairly inacessible where I can't fill watering cans from it. I want to connect a hosepipe to it and then at the other end of the hosepipe put another tap (to comply with the hosepipe restrictions) to then fill watering cans from.

Basically I want to extend the tap without:

1. making it permanent - it's not my tap, it's on an allotment. So whatever I do needs to be unscrewed at the end of the day.
   

Secondly, it's really inaccessible - I can get my hand through the gap in the fence to it to screw a hosepipe on it and that's it - I've already emailed the council about it 3 times.

Solutions Homebase guy tried:

1. screw hoselock fittings to tap, have length of hose, fit over short length of copper pipe, then put new joiner and tap on.
   

It didn't work - length of copper pipe is 15mm and won't fit inside standard hose - also 15mm.

1. Looked for Hoselock 'tap' fitting - they don't do a 'tap' - they do 'stop' things like sprayers but this does not comply with the hosepipe restrictions in my area as I can't fill a watering can from a hose even with a sprayer on it.
   

Has anyone any ideas???

[ToothbrushThief]

I'm totally confused by your post
Why can't you just attach a hosepipe with one of these on the end?

[LaurieFairyCake]

I can Toothbrush - but due to the hosepipe restrictions I can't then water my allotment using it, I can't even fill watering cans from it.

I have to use a tap to fill watering cans and I can't get to the tap with a watering can as it's blocked in - can only get my hand through to attach a hose to it.

So I want to extend the tap. Have a tap (the one there now), have a hose, then have a tap at the end of the hose.

Hope that makes sense

[ChippyMinton]

Surely you are taking the restrictions too literally? I would interpret a tap as being something that is readily turned on and off to allow water through, and would use Laurie's link.

Or could you put a water butt on your plot, and fill that with the hosepipe, then draw water off via the tap on the butt?

[ToothbrushThief]

Well I have a short length of hose (about 2 ft) on my outside tap. So the hose would reach the can but is always controlled by the tap. I would think it would be dead obvious to everyone it's not being used as a hose because it's only short?

I can't see that anyone could argue with that

[LaurieFairyCake]

Obviously I agree with both of you - unfortunately Veolia water doesn't and have told me that I am not permitted to fill watering cans with a hose.

I do have a full water butt (again, Veolia water say I cannot fill that using a hose) but that will run out in about 2 weeks time when I put in 30 courgette plants/20 cauliflowers/40 beetroots - the most thirsty plants possible and I'd never have ordered them if I knew the hosepipe ban was coming and would prevent me filling watering cans - ordered them in December.

the other nearest tap to me is 100 feet away - really, really too far to water an entire allotment with it - I would die carrying all that water 3 times a week - my plot is in full sun and already dry

I honestly don't know what to do - I do know that I will be grassed up very quickly by one of the hundred houses overlooking my allotment if I went against the ban.

As I said I've emailed the council 3 times and not had a response apart from 'we're looking into it'. The whole problem has come about because they've moved the fencing so that I can now only get my hand to the tap and not a a can.

[ChippyMinton]

Have you read Jean de Florette?

Have your fellow allotment holders got the same problem, and any solutions?

[MoaningMinnieRisesAgain]

Could you try sending a PM to PigletJohn? I bet he knows. I know nothing about gardening or plumbing so I will piss off

[LaurieFairyCake]

Ah Chippy I love you - that's an excellent film (not read the book)

Yes, one other guy has the same problem - too great a distance to the next tap and he's emailed too.

We are both stumped and considering illegally interfering with the water supply and hiring our own plumber to put in a new tap for us - but of course we're not allowed and are terrified the council will kick us off our plots.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Goes off to search PigletJohn - thanks Moaning

[ChippyMinton]

According to this you can use an irrigation system. I bought some irrigation hoses in Lidl a couple of weeks ago for MIL, might be worth a look?

Does seem ridiculous that you can do that but not fill a can.

[SoupDragon]

How would the water company ever know if you put a short length of hose onto a tap, with a controllable tap fitting on the end, and filled your can from that? How is it any different from, say, flexible plumbing pipe with a tap on the end?

[LaurieFairyCake]

Yes Chippy I can use an irrigation system and attach it to the tap - the big 'but' there is that I have to then go across communal pathways to reach my plot - which the council 'strim' so I couldn't leave it running as they would just cut through the hose.

If I just attached it while I was on-site not enough water comes out to make it worthwhile - those systems are supposed to be left running.

[trixymalixy]

You might be better going to your local plumbers merchant than Homebase to ask for advice

[LaurieFairyCake]

Soup - they wouldn't know unless I was grassed up and I can't risk a £1000 fine as Veolia have specifically excluded any hosepipe attached to a tap to fill other containers.

I agree there's no appreciable difference between that and me putting a flexible hose on and putting a tap on the end.

[SoupDragon]

Can you construct an extension using plumbing hose pipe?

[SoupDragon]

In my head, you screw a fitting on the tap which is attached to the plumbing pipe (it's not a hose, it's pipe) which then runs through the fence to a fixed tap on your side. You can then unscrew the other side when you've finished.

There are many plumbing fittings which can fit fat pipe to thin pipe/tap and vice versa.

[LaurieFairyCake]

YES start I could attach something a tiny piece of hoseto the tap and fill the watering can BUT because of the angle of the fence I can only do this from the road side - and I'd then have to walk about 100 feet to the stupid new gate to get to my actual plot.

Up til now I've used a long hose and gone round the road side to put it on the tap and thrown it over the huge trees and bushes to get to my actual plot - now not allowed.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Soup - that's exactly what I want to do

Pipes come in standard fittings and hose comes in 15 mm fittings - so I was hoping to fit a tiny bit of copper pipe into the hose and attach the copper pipe to the tap.

But the copper pipe comes in standard sizes - so the 15mm hose won't fit into 15mm pipe and the pressure of the water if I try and attach a 15mm hose to a 20mm pipe will cause it to come off apparently (according to Homebase guy)

[SoupDragon]

You need plumbing supplies.
I bet there is a connector which will screw onto the end of the tap (I assume it is threaded at the end?)
This connector then connects to flexible plumping pipe which fits through the fence. There are many adjusting connectors to join different sized pipes.
The flexible pipe then connects to a new tap, fixed to a wooden stake on your side.

Forget garden hose.

[LaurieFairyCake]

You're right Soup and Trixy - tomorrow I will go to a proper plumbing place and look into flexible hose with a tap on the end - Homebase didn't have anything like that which is why we kept coming back to garden hose.