Hosepipe ban

[Jimbo.]

I would like to know how many new reservoirs have ben built since privatization, my guess would be none...

Some have been built Contact them and ask.

BUT, one major stumbling block is that no-one wants them! NIMBY'ism and all that. Said same NIMBYs are now the ones leaving comments on the Daily Mail website bemoaning the lack of water...

[Fatman2]

The answer to this is simple. Ban golf.

Other than being a ste sport anyway it's a fact that using a hose for an hour is roughly equivalent to the average household useage for a couple of weeks at least.

Washing our cars for 10 minutes isn't so much of a problem and some of our local car washes advertise that they recycle the water anyway. Golf courses on the other hand use sprinklers for hours to keep them in tip top condition just so that brown nosing exec mofos can hack away at a bloody golf ball.

[Megaflow]

Jimbo. said:

Megaflow said:

They can try. But they aren't going to stop me using a hosepipe to wash the car when the industry loses 3,393,750 litres per day through leaks.

Yes, three million four hundread thousand litres per day or 1,238,718,750 litres per year...

And where does that go? Back into the groundwater, so most (if not all) of it goes back into the system.

Where does the water from my hose pipe go when I've washed the car?

[Jimbo.]

Megaflow said:

Where does the water from my hose pipe go when I've washed the car?

Depends where you are. It's either directly into a watercourse, or quite likely into a combined foul/surface water drainage system, which goes through treatment and then into a watercourse.

But that's surface water. Water lost via subsurface leaks might leak into these drainage systems should there indeed be a leak, or as said just ends up back in the groundwater.

Wherever it goes and however it gets there, it takes time to do so. Which means you can't use your hosepipe all you want thinking it'll be back there to use again tomorrow: it won't.

Edited by Jimbo. on Monday 12th March 20:03

[PRTVR]

Jimbo. said:

I would like to know how many new reservoirs have ben built since privatization, my guess would be none...

Some have been built Contact them and ask.

BUT, one major stumbling block is that no-one wants them! NIMBY'ism and all that. Said same NIMBYs are now the ones leaving comments on the Daily Mail website bemoaning the lack of water...

OK had a quick google and came up with south west water, formed in 1989, completed its last reservoir in 1990, it goes on to say roadford reservoir was the last major reservoir built in the uk
So the last major reservoir built was started before privatization.

[Megaflow]

Jimbo. said:

Depends where you are. It's either directly into a watercourse, or quite likely into a combined foul/surface water drainage system, which goes through treatment and then into a watercourse.

But that's surface water. Water lost via subsurface leaks might leak into these drainage systems should there indeed be a leak, or as said just ends up back in the groundwater.

Same place as all the leakage then. Hence my original point.

[oyster]

RYH64E said:

Do we get a rebate from our water rates bill to reflect the fact that our service has been restricted?

Errrr.... you do know a water shortage is caused by lack of rain, not because the water companies decide to switch it off!


And in any case if they need to build more pipelines, reservoirs and desalination plants, it's the customers who will have to pay.

[maniac0796]

PRTVR said:

Jimbo. said:

I would like to know how many new reservoirs have ben built since privatization, my guess would be none...

Some have been built Contact them and ask.

BUT, one major stumbling block is that no-one wants them! NIMBY'ism and all that. Said same NIMBYs are now the ones leaving comments on the Daily Mail website bemoaning the lack of water...

OK had a quick google and came up with south west water, formed in 1989, completed its last reservoir in 1990, it goes on to say roadford reservoir was the last major reservoir built in the uk
So the last major reservoir built was started before privatization.

Look into SWW more, and it goes further than resevoirs. They have the ability to pretty much move water around the whole south west.

[PRTVR]

maniac0796 said:

PRTVR said:

Jimbo. said:

I would like to know how many new reservoirs have ben built since privatization, my guess would be none...

Some have been built Contact them and ask.

BUT, one major stumbling block is that no-one wants them! NIMBY'ism and all that. Said same NIMBYs are now the ones leaving comments on the Daily Mail website bemoaning the lack of water...

OK had a quick google and came up with south west water, formed in 1989, completed its last reservoir in 1990, it goes on to say roadford reservoir was the last major reservoir built in the uk
So the last major reservoir built was started before privatization.

Look into SWW more, and it goes further than resevoirs. They have the ability to pretty much move water around the whole south west.

Yes noticed that, also that they had not had to issue a restriction order for 11 years,
In the north east water can be moved from kielder in northumberland down as far as the tees.
It would appear that investing in infrastructure helps with water supplies.

[DSM2]

You mean you guys don't have your own bores? Oh dear.........

[ninja-lewis]

Jimbo. said:

I would like to know how many new reservoirs have ben built since privatization, my guess would be none...

Some have been built Contact them and ask.

BUT, one major stumbling block is that no-one wants them! NIMBY'ism and all that. Said same NIMBYs are now the ones leaving comments on the Daily Mail website bemoaning the lack of water...

Not just the Back Yard issue - nobody wants to pay even more to provide the necessary funding for new reservoirs.

Actually, if you look at how tightly regulated the industry is - in terms of Ofwat setting price regimes and telling firms to invest more in infrastructure, and the Environment Agency determining how much water can be taken from the local environment, where new reservoirs can be built and so on - it looks clear that the Government is as much the problem as privatisation (if in fact privatisation is a problem).

[RYH64E]

oyster said:

RYH64E said:

Do we get a rebate from our water rates bill to reflect the fact that our service has been restricted?

Errrr.... you do know a water shortage is caused by lack of rain, not because the water companies decide to switch it off!


And in any case if they need to build more pipelines, reservoirs and desalination plants, it's the customers who will have to pay.

Less rain than usual isn't the same as a lack of rain, we aren't exactly a dry and arid country.

It's up to the water companies to maintain supply, if they can't do that and decide to ration supplies then I don't think it reasonable to charge the same as for an un-rationed supply. I pay for a service, if that service is restricted in any way then the amount charged should be reduced accordingly.

[stinkysteve]

oyster said:

Errrr.... you do know a water shortage is caused by lack of rain, not because the water companies decide to switch it off!


And in any case if they need to build more pipelines, reservoirs and desalination plants, it's the customers who will have to pay.

Errr... You do know a water shortage is caused by demand being higher than supply.

Given The population of the SE has grown massively in the last 25 years (demand), the problem is supply. A developed county, sat in the middle of the Atlantic that has huge (relative) rainfall, shouldn't be affected by two dry winters. It's a complete and total lack of developing the infrastructure to keep up with the rapidly increasing population.

I'd guess quite a few more reservoirs are needed immediately to change this situation. Even if we have a wet winter, we'll still have water shortages!

It'll get worse, a lot worse, before it gets better.

You're right, the customers will have to pay. And quite a lot. That's the price of profit unfortunately.

[The Black Flash]

I'll just leave this here...

Hosepipe Ban Conversation Ban

[wiggy001]

Given that Thames Water made £225m profit for the last year that figures are available without sufficient investment to prevent this situation occurring, and given that ever drop I extract is metered and paid for by me, this won't make an iota of difference to me.

Keep calm and carry on...

[LC926]

My water and sewage has increased in cost by 8% this year...another above inflation rise. So to be told i can't use my hose gripes me.

[sanguinary]

Ozzie Osmond said:

I should think this will decimate a number of garden centre businesses who would normally be looking forward to their peak spring sales.

As an ex garden centre owner I concur. Even talk of a possible ban is enough to wreck the season.

[JonnyFive]

I think you're allowed to fill a bucket from a hose.. And the pressure washer doesn't need mains pressure, so you can put a length of hose into a bucket from the pressure washer, and use it like that. I bet it would only take a few buckets of water as the pressure washer uses so little water compared to the hose running.

[Mr GrimNasty]

RYH64E said:

...... we aren't exactly a dry and arid country.

Hyper-arid <100mm
Arid 100-300mm
Semi-Arid 300-600, some say up to 800mm

[Chrisgr31]

There is apparently a desalination plant at Beckton in east London, I didnt realise we hadf any assuming the power required to run them masde them uneconomic.

Here in Sussex its hardly rained over the winter, very rarely have I got wet on my journey to and from work.