In fact I can't remember the last time there were any restrictions from either Anglian Water or Yorkshire Water.>>
You have a short memory or are very young..:-)
There used to be convoys of water carrying lorries travelling from the north-east to the Yorkshire area during the drought of 1976 - I remember them being featured on news programmes.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4746368.stm
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I actually did some car washing between the rain showers this last weekend. It means the car is rinsed before starting and the shampoo gets rinsed off as I go with less faffing around filling buckets and watering cans. Plus the rainwater is quite soft so it doesn't tend to leave watermarks.
Only problem with relying on that method is the whole reason we have the ban is there aren't enough rainy days!
I might get a water butt to benefit from the soft rainwater but the water company has only just launched an offer (despite others having had them for ages) but I wouldn't get the butt until July.
I seem to remember an Anglian hosepipe ban, but not to needing bowsers, sometime in the late 80s or early 90s when I lived there.
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I imagine it would be legal, or at least within the spirit of the regulations, to put your used bathwater into buckets and use that to clean the car? It would do for getting the dirt off OK but the final rinse might finish up a bit claggy!
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I believe (but someone might be able to confirm this) that it's also okay to use a hose to siphon the water from the bath. Might help with all but the final rinse.
One other tip I was given when living in Vail in the US, put a bucket under your shower when you're waiting for the water to go hot - you get a surprisingly large volume of completely clean, usable water. The suggestion was to use for flowers or car washing.
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bucket under your shower when you're waiting for the water to go hot -
WHIMP!
Get in there and Squirm and squeel like the rest of us.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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One other tip I was given when living in Vail in the US, put a bucket under your shower when you're waiting for the water to go hot - .
>>
I also set my non electric shower to max hot and then turn it on. The themostatic control does not ask for cold and so saves a little more water. When the hot arrives I then just swing it back to my preferred setting.
Has anyone seen a water diverter for fitting in the external pipe from the bath?
There are plenty around for rainwater down pipes.
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I've been using rainwater collected from the roof to wash the car for years. Recommended. The butts only cost a few quid, though I suppose they are more expensive now where you are. Best to get the butt asap because there is never much rain in July and it might not fill up.
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could use a hosepipe to fill your butt?
Tip - in Sutton and Surrey water company if you put goldfish in your swimming pool you can fill it up.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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could use a hosepipe to fill your butt?
Wouldn't that be colonic irrigation?
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"could use a hosepipe to fill your butt?
Tip - in Sutton and Surrey water company if you put goldfish in your swimming pool you can fill it up."
How about putting your gold fish in your butt RF?
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They block up the outlet BBD, but then you knew that.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Yeah my butt is filthy too, always got flies around it
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Here in the North West we don't suffer very much from lack of water...:-)
Ironically enough rain falls in Scotland, the north east and other areas to serve the whole of the UK's requirements.
But, as it's not oil, there's no national water grid.
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Ironically enough rain falls in Scotland, the north east and other areas to serve the whole of the UK's requirements.
Ironically, a lot of it was falling here in Scotland yesterday, when the drought order was announced :-)
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Guys, there is a shortage of water or hasn't the message got throught to you. It doesn't mean "find a way of avoiding the ban". Do you honestly think that washing your car is a priority.
I'm not a tree hugger but I have plenty of far more important uses for fresh water than car washing for a month or two.
Any other bans you want to avoid???
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Sounds like a load of crap to me, how much water actually gets used for washing cars? A hand ful of houses on each street once every few weeks?
On the other hand my house hold runs four baths every day, 365 days a year. It would make more if they asked us to have showers, share baths, go dirty once in a while or only flush after number twosies and let people get on with washing their cars if that?s what they wish to do.
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It was funny on the national news before. Some water company down south was going to impose bans but they were talking about the comnpany losing so many billions of litres a water per day through leaks.
The journalist was standing on a busy street where a pipe was bust and it was spewing water. Lots and lots of it. He tried reporting it and was there for ages before he even got through.
I seem to remember someone (L'Escargot perhaps) saying that to fix the leaks would be too costly. But given they're clearing millions in profit each year, and the water's running out in certain areas of the country, maybe it's time now to just bit the bullet and start fixing the pipes!
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maybe it's time now to just bit the bullet and start fixing the pipes!
Where's your British spirit?
Just ignore the problem; it'll soon go away!
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I can already! I live in the North West!
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There ISN'T a shortage of water in the UK. There IS a shortage of supply to the South East, mostly because of over-development I believe.
My advice to the water companies? Sort out the supply and the leaks with the profit, then shut up and do your job.
: )
I've turned into TVM! No offence, Mr TVM...
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>>There IS a shortage of supply to the South East, mostly because of over-development I believe.>>
It's always been the same in the south - the rainfall, on average, is lower than further north and so there is less to go round what is one of the most densely populated areas in the UK.
What's more Two Jags, to give him his original title, has wanted to create even more housing for some time despite many warnings of the situation that would inevitably arise.
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What's more Two Jags, to give him his original title, has wanted to create even more housing for some time despite many warnings of the situation that would inevitably arise. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
I think you'll find that its the building companies that are pressing hard to build more houses. The demand is there. I suspect if we had a different deputy PM or even a different government, that would still be the case.
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The funny thing is, they are assuming the drought is permanent in the south east and building on the flood plains.
The owners of the then flooded houses have the temerity to complain.......
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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PS Oldgit, "the nonsense of daily showering"?
Heavens.... I didn't realise I was so nonsensical in my hygiene demands...
: )
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>> There ISN'T a shortage of water in the UK. There ISa shortage of supply to the South East, mostly because of over-development I believe. My advice to the water companies? Sort out the supply and the leaks with the profit, then shut up and do your job. : ) I've turned into TVM! No offence, Mr TVM...
>>
There is also the problem that, where I live, the powers that be seem to be pulling down old houses etc. and replacing a single dwelling by flats/apartment blocks which need all the utilities that the country is becoming hard stretched to satisfy anyway.
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The problem with house building is that demand will continue to increase even though supply does, rather like building new roads. Near us a development went up and something like a dozen of the houses were sold to a local company as an investment. So much for building for the needy.
Meanwhile in the North we are knocking houses down. This country is bonkers. The government should simply place a limit on house building and say no more. Then maybe people might renovate old houses rather than knocking them down.
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The country is very sensible - it is the Government and Civil Service that is bonkers!
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The country is very sensible - it is the Government and Civil Service that is bonkers!
The 'country' is not a sentient being and does not have a brain.......hmmmmmmmm perhaps members of the Government and Civil Service are similarly devoid of rational thought!
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The government should simply place a limit on house building and say no more. Then maybe people might renovate old houses rather than knocking them down.
Trouble is its usually chaper to build new ones than renovate. With the Building Regulations getting more strict with regard to insulation and energy efficiency, renovation is not cost effective on a large scale.
Systems have been available for years to reduce household water demands; proper integrated rainwater harvesting and grey water usage (eg. storing bathwater to use for flushing toilets etc.), we studied it on my degree course 12 years ago. But not many people see the need so wont pay the extra cost, so developers dont install it in new houses.
My mates sister is having one installed as part of a house extension at the moment. Im not a bearded green person but I like the idea of it. Seems silly to me that we flush our toilets with water that is good enough to drink.
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If the government actually thought seriously about the issue for five minutes (unlikely I accept) I am sure they could come up with a scheme for making it advantageous to renovate old properties. Tax advantages for example. We are knocking down our history, no sensible people do that.
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There probably is no disasterous rainfall shortage - not after most snowy winter in decades and almost cataclismic rain storms of last autumn - levels might be lower than usual, but I wouldn't give much credit to all the "London has less water than Dubai" statistics. The way I see it - it's just a simple move to push for nationwide water metering, hike the price and then sell the business of supplying water to chinese, and in process force councils to switch from water tanks in lofts to "water saving" condensing boilers across the country and help reducing emissions before 2010.
Mark my words and watch.
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[Nissan dCi are NOT Renault engines. Grrr...]
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I live in a hard-water area. For some months now I've been collecting rainwater and enjoying its purity for mixing with whisky, and its lack of lime for a scale-free kettle and cleaner veg-steamer pans at last.
It doesn't take much to keep four 25L Milletts water tubs full. Rather than letting it stew in a water butt, I find the best collecting devices to be large gardening trays (about 24x18x6 inches), deep enough so that most rainsplash debris doesn't get into them (or raise them off the ground). Some debris is unavoidable, so I filter it all through large coffee-filter papers. Hence, if it comes to it, I'll have plenty for my monthly car cleaner to use if we suffer severe restrictions over the summer -- unless we have another 1976 and there's no rain, of course.
As for grey water, a plastic bucket in the shower gives the cistern a rest for most of the day.
My water is metered. That reduced my annual bill by about 70%.
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I believe you are spot on here this is exactly what I have been saying too. I live in Surrey and called our water company 3 valleys water who serve our area many times because there was a mini river running down our road for around 2 weeks. They did repair the leak eventually but did not really treat it as a priority.
I have friends who live in Peterborough who converted to meters around 5 - 6 years ago as it was saving money now they pay more than I do without a meter due to their rising costs.
I believe there is a hidden political agenda to get compulsory metering so they can say there is a shortage and inrease costs without any effort just like what has been done with Gas and Electricity. I just heard on the news that it is not financially possible to repair all the leaks in London so domestic customers will have to cut usage.
Might look at moving further north in the near future
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>.Might look at moving further north in the near future<<
It's a nice place!
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(Adam, apply the C6 Priniciple) The north isn't a nice place at all nothing to attract us Southerners.
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>>come up with a scheme for making it advantageous to renovate old properties.>>
I have a 1880s Victorian semi and had nearly £8,000 worth of work done on it at the time when the local council provided 90 per cent grants towards such work.
The comparatively small amount it cost us was a bargain, especially as what was (and still is) an excellent property only cost £2,300 in 1965..:-)
The work included new roof felting and slate nails (the originals were rusting away) with the slates themselves being retained; new damp course, new living and hall way joists and flooring, some gable end work and the re-pointing and red mastic work on the Accrington brickwork at the front of the property (this took three weeks alone).
As for insulation, the Government (or rather Gordon Brown on threat of imposing windfall taxes if they don't comply) has "encouraged" the energy companies to provide free or low cost loft and wall insulation.
Mind you New Labour (or Old Labour) has always been happiest if it is able to spend others' money, whether people or businesses.
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As the drought order was announced for the South here in sunny Stoke it was pelting down. It rained so much there were flash floods! It has been forecasting rain for every day this week and so far the weather forecast hasn't been far off. It tipped down here most of last week too.
I haven't got a water butt yet but am planning to create a massive one to get the run off from my new car port if I get to build it this year. The only issue is how to stop the water from stagnating. Anyone know of any solar powered water butt aerators/swishers?
I'll still be washing the cars using the normal bucket & sponge method. The least I will be doing is keeping the glass and mirrors clear as that has obvious health and safety implications if not done.
The leakage issue is far more serious. Drought order should only be imposed in water regions where the leakage is less than say 10%. Most of them don't manage this so they had better get their acts togethers. The UK is such a farce with water as lots of areas around the trent are flooded when it does rain and yet the south is a desert. It is such incompetance. There is more than enough water to go round, pity Prescott wants to build yet more houses where there is already a shortage of water, roads and other amenity.
teabelly
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It's not all doom and gloom. Presumably all of you in areas with drought restrictions in place will gat a reduction in your water rates - after all, you will be using less, and if you only flush "after twosies" etc etc you won't be using the sewage works as much.
Re water leaks - why is it assumed that this water is "lost"? I know it is rather a waste of purified water but surely it ends up recharging the water table?
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Phil
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As difficult as this may sound, please try and keep discussion motoring related. There must be so far getting on for 50% of this thread that isn't.
DD.
EDIT
time 00:45
Make that more than 50% now - so thread locked. DD.
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8< SNIP 8<
Comments regarding how this site is moderated by email only please.
DD.
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Leakage, Yes indeed. 1/5th of the daily consumption is lost by the water companies in leakage. Thames water is responsible for 1/3rd of the whole UK total lost.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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