Hose pipe ban

[Mermaid]

J4CKO said:

..
I dont think something like water should really be in private hands.

Or any other essential utility.

[oyster]

Megaflow said:

Willy Nilly said:

SiRoberts said:

where the hell do you think the run off from your hosepipe ends up.

In the drains.

Water leaking to ground will find its way to either a water course or to ground water.

Where do you think the water that comes from hose pipe ends up after it has been in the drains?

I'll give you a clue, you've already said the answer...

ETA: Oh, and an update on all the rain from yesterday, the river that was high has burst its bank and is following into the neighbouring field, several drainage dykes were very high and there was standing water in fields.

Drought? Don't make me laugh...

Edited by Megaflow on Thursday 5th April 08:17

Hang on. One river near you has overflowed for 1 day, following 2 years of below-average rainfall, and you calim the drought is over?

Good grief.

[J4CKO]

Mermaid said:

J4CKO said:

..
I dont think something like water should really be in private hands.

Or any other essential utility.

I suppose they are all essential, heat, light, shelter, food, water etc, I guess we have a choice between goverment controlled and privately controlled, they both have pros and cons as an approach and it is difficult to say which is the correct approach, we have been there before with state run utilities and it didnt really work, I guess it isnt going to change so we may as well get used to it and perhaps make the water and other companies accountable for their level of service, they come and turn your water off if you dont pay, if they dont deliver then make a fuss as they seem to forget who the customer is, they need to remember it is them charged with taking my Turdleys away, not the other way round.

[XitUp]

Why didn't it work when they were state controlled? Does it work now?

Privatisation doesn't work a lot of the time. imo, water, power and public transport shouldn't be for profit.

[Chris993C4]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Nearly - he found a headless Apatosaurus and decided it must have been a different species

[RizzoTheRat]

Megaflow said:

ETA: Oh, and an update on all the rain from yesterday, the river that was high has burst its bank and is following into the neighbouring field, several drainage dykes were very high and there was standing water in fields.

If you have gentle rain over a long period of time it soaks in to the soil and raises the water table. If you get sudden heavy rain after a period of drought the soil doesn't absorb it and it all runs off. So bizarrely the river bursting it's bank can be an indicator of drought.

[pilchardthecat]

Mermaid said:

J4CKO said:

..
I dont think something like water should really be in private hands.

Or any other essential utility.

I'm a libertarian and believe in the free market, and i agree also

[Guvernator]

pilchardthecat said:

Mermaid said:

J4CKO said:

..
I dont think something like water should really be in private hands.

Or any other essential utility.

I'm a libertarian and believe in the free market, and i agree also

Me too, essential services should not be subject to companies whose sole priority is the bottom line\shareholder. Unfortunately however the government have also proven to be as equally as inept at managing these so what is the answer?

[pilchardthecat]

Guvernator said:

pilchardthecat said:

Mermaid said:

J4CKO said:

..
I dont think something like water should really be in private hands.

Or any other essential utility.

I'm a libertarian and believe in the free market, and i agree also

Me too, essential services should not be subject to companies whose sole priority is the bottom line\shareholder. Unfortunately however the government have also proven to be as equally as inept at managing these so what is the answer?

For me it's not about whether it's essential or not, it's more about the fact that private companies only improve things where there is a genuine market with competition. Utilities (and their infrastructure) are monopolies, so there is no benefit from involving private capital.

If my water company is crap, can i buy water and sewerage from a different water company? no. So where is the incentive for the water company to improve? The only incentive is regulatory enforcement from the state. So why not just let the state deliver the service.

[Guvernator]

pilchardthecat said:

If my water company is crap, can i buy water and sewerage from a different water company? no. So where is the incentive for the water company to improve? The only incentive is regulatory enforcement from the state. So why not just let the state deliver the service.

The problem is the regulatory enforcement from the state is absolute pish. I've complained to the regulatory body about a leak which has been pouring water on a public pavement next to my house for about 6 months and guess what, the regulatory body sent me a nice email and err....that's about it.

I am highly dubious about the effectiveness of these regulatory bodies, more like jobs for the boys if you ask me, probably getting kickbacks from the companies providing the services to turn a blind eye to their failure to fix things and invest money.

[pilchardthecat]

Guvernator said:

pilchardthecat said:

If my water company is crap, can i buy water and sewerage from a different water company? no. So where is the incentive for the water company to improve? The only incentive is regulatory enforcement from the state. So why not just let the state deliver the service.

The problem is the regulatory enforcement from the state is absolute pish. I've complained to the regulatory body about a leak which has been pouring water on a public pavement next to my house for about 6 months and guess what, the regulatory body sent me a nice email and err....that's about it.

I am highly dubious about the effectiveness of these regulatory bodies, more like jobs for the boys if you ask me, probably getting kickbacks from the companies providing the services to turn a blind eye to their failure to fix things and invest money.

Exactly. It's ineffective as well as inefficient.

The state does a huge amount of things it really shouldn't be doing, and gives stuff it should be doing to private sector monopolies. It's lunacy.

[Guvernator]

pilchardthecat said:

Exactly. It's ineffective as well as inefficient.

The state does a huge amount of things it really shouldn't be doing, and gives stuff it should be doing to private sector monopolies. It's lunacy.

We could always blame Maggie, Labour have been doing it for 30 years!

[Jimbo.]

"ETA: Oh, and an update on all the rain from yesterday, the river that was high has burst its bank and is following into the neighbouring field, several drainage dykes were very high and there was standing water in fields.

Drought? Don't make me laugh..."

Dump a lot of water in a reasonably short time, and a river could well "burst its banks" as said large, sudden volume of water flows down it. Doesn't change the fact that groundwater levels are low. The water didn't fall for long enough, nor did enough of it fall, to make any real difference to them.

And rainfall that exceeds the soil infiltration rate will always leave standing water. Take a dry sponge and stick it underneath a tap on full blast. See how most of it runs off without soaking in? Same thing.

[phib]

Not sure of this has been done but does it save water if I throw 10 buckets of water over my car v a hosepipe for 3/4 mins ?

I have always thought i would waste less with a hosepipe ?

Phib

[AlleyCat]

i use this to clean my car, its a very good waterless cleaner!

http://www.jmldirect.com/uk/mantis-performance/man...

been using it for two years now, and i cant complain.

[andrew]

my company has just diversified into commercial car washing

"Businesses that operate at a domestic property or wash private vehicles (e.g. car/driveway washing or window cleaning) can use a hosepipe in the course of their work, where this is done as a service to customers."

http://www.anglianwater.co.uk/E90894F6CB2546F88BFF...

[J4CKO]

If arid countries manage with a fraction of our rain, our water companies really need to pull their fingers out of their arses and worry about supplying water, not just profit and dividends, I really take exception to paying for a service and then being at risk of legal action if I use it, taking the piss I call it, ok if there were no leaks but there are, lots of them but they don't fix them, they return money to shareholders and declare huge profits, to my mind there shouldn't be any profits until the infrastructure is fit for purpose, there hasn't even been that much dry weather. If a ban is imposed all customers should get a rebate.

[Jimbo.]

...there hasn't even been that much dry weather

There's been two years worth! Jesus. What's so hard to understand? Groundwater reserves traditionally recharge during the winter, and deplete during the summer. For the past two winters they've not been replenished, but the summer demand remained/will remain the same.
A few wet days...hell, weeks...won't make a difference. We need MONTHS of near-continuous rainfall to get things back to where they should be...

[Jimmyarm]

Is it 'legal' to dig ones own well ?

I has spade

[JonnyFive]

andrew said:

my company has just diversified into commercial car washing

"Businesses that operate at a domestic property or wash private vehicles (e.g. car/driveway washing or window cleaning) can use a hosepipe in the course of their work, where this is done as a service to customers."

http://www.anglianwater.co.uk/E90894F6CB2546F88BFF...

We can do it at work too.. Not sure how long though, as I heard today if it doesn't rain they'll stop business' too.