Hosepipe ban

[Sandy]

It was very dry in the first quarter, my field walking was like summer underfoot. No wellies required. March & April have helped the situation.

Not in my part of Devon.

 

[salar]

In a splurge of public spiritedness I installed a number of rainwater butts, and almost overnight accummulated 1,000 litres of clean rainwater. Chuffed with my contribution, I worked out from my water bill what I had saved. £1.48 I kid you not. If water is sold this cheaply, a) no wonder people waste it b) no wonder there is no money to fund improved infrastructure and c) there is no incentive for house builders to install rainwater or grey water systems.

 

[LittleSister]

In a splurge of public spiritedness I installed a number of rainwater butts, and almost overnight accummulated 1,000 litres of clean rainwater. Chuffed with my contribution, I worked out from my water bill what I had saved. £1.48 I kid you not. If water is sold this cheaply, a) no wonder people waste it b) no wonder there is no money to fund improved infrastructure and c) there is no incentive for house builders to install rainwater or grey water systems.

You make an interesting point, but your calculation of the value of your investment of money and effort is misleading, in that you will now have a 'free supply' of 1,000 litres of rainwater repeatedly for many years, not just the once after a day or so.

(Not to mention the warm glow of feeling virtuous, and relative insulation from the nuisances of hosepipe bans and service disruptions.)

 

[Sandy]

In a splurge of public spiritedness I installed a number of rainwater butts, and almost overnight accummulated 1,000 litres of clean rainwater. Chuffed with my contribution, I worked out from my water bill what I had saved. £1.48 I kid you not. If water is sold this cheaply, a) no wonder people waste it b) no wonder there is no money to fund improved infrastructure and c) there is no incentive for house builders to install rainwater or grey water systems.

Looks like you have been running about collecting the rainwater, something we pay handsomely for the water companies to do, but I am a customer of South West Water and pay the highest water rates in the UK and get very little for it despite being on the wet west coast.

 

[salar]

You make an interesting point, but your calculation of the value of your investment of money and effort is misleading, in that you will now have a 'free supply' of 1,000 litres of rainwater repeatedly for many years, not just the once after a day or so.

(Not to mention the warm glow of feeling virtuous, and relative insulation from the nuisances of hosepipe bans and service disruptions.)

My point was more an illustration of the cheapness of water, and the consequences thereof. I'm aware that having collected 135,135 litres of water my investment will have broken even You are correct, in the many intervening years I will be able to bathe in rainwater and self-satisfaction.

 

[Stemar]

(Not to mention the warm glow of feeling virtuous, and relative insulation from the nuisances of hosepipe bans and service disruptions.)

And the pleasure of telling whoever comes round to enforce the hosepipe ban and stick you with a fine to go forth.

 

[blush2]

We also have about 1000 litres of waterbutt and I was surprised to find that over the really hot spell last year when this volume lasted about a month, the monthly domestic use was less (2 people). There was no hosepipe ban in our area then but we have one now.

I prefer using water from the butts rather than having to unroll loads of hose to get to the veggie patch.

 

[Refueler]

Most pressure washers need a pressure feed unfortunately.

I use a pump that you drop into the water on the end of the hose ... this feeds the pressure washer ....

Weight (kg)	3.558 kg
Size (mm)	290 x 160 x 115
Package size (mm)	290 x 160 x 115
Type	Vibrating water pumps
Maximum suction height (m)	60
Maximum water flow (l/h)	360
Power supply	Power cord 240v
Power (W)	250

But main thing is to make sure that plenty of fresh water is put through the pressure washer after use ...

 

[25931]

I use a pump that you drop into the water on the end of the hose ... this feeds the pressure washer ....

Weight (kg)	3.558 kg
Size (mm)	290 x 160 x 115
Package size (mm)	290 x 160 x 115
Type	Vibrating water pumps
Maximum suction height (m)	60
Maximum water flow (l/h)	360
Power supply	Power cord 240v
Power (W)	250

But main thing is to make sure that plenty of fresh water is put through the pressure washer after use ...

Those of us who rely on our borehole (120m) have rather larger pumps.

 

[Refueler]

Those of us who rely on our borehole (120m) have rather larger pumps.

The pump I illustrated is actually a Borehole pump. The design is slim and water enters in the top ... ev en though the head specs are less than borehole height - it works as what we do here is have that to lift water and then a second pump with auto pressure relay / reserve tank which feeds the house.

My house has been converted to town water - but the dual pump system is still in placed as back-up .... one day I will remove it.

The pressure washer supply pump is a second one that is in the boat channel.

 

[trevbouy]

Interestingly if you are disabled, on the vulnerable list or in receipt of pension credit you are exempt from the ban.
That from a SWW letter to a friend.

 

[Mister E]

If you plan to run a pressure washer from a water butt make certain you have a filter in the line.
I made the mistake of not having one a got something in the washer, it took me ages to clear.
I had to use the outside tap at the sons house as we don't have one.

 

[25931]

The pump I illustrated is actually a Borehole pump. The design is slim and water enters in the top ... ev en though the head specs are less than borehole height - it works as what we do here is have that to lift water and then a second pump with auto pressure relay / reserve tank which feeds the house.

My house has been converted to town water - but the dual pump system is still in placed as back-up .... one day I will remove it.

The pressure washer supply pump is a second one that is in the boat channel.

I doesn't seem right to use treated water for irregation if you have land.

 

[Refueler]

I doesn't seem right to use treated water for irregation if you have land.

I do not use 'treated water' for the land. I use the river water ....

 

[Farmer Piles]

Current storage levels at 4/5ths capacity:

South West Water

There‘s not enough public visibility of this issue, especially for tourists, it should be in the local weather slot on TV every night.

I live right by the Tamar and true enough it has been in full flow on numerous occasions this spring. I’m told by a SWW man that this water cannot be directed to the reservoirs as it’s too dirty, indeed the Tamar does run red/brown when angry. The reservoirs rely on much small local watercourses and rainfall, it takes a while to replenish a reservoir after a summer like last year.

But the leaks are massively annoying..

The two big reservoirs, Colliford and Roadford, that feed Plymouth and South Devon are both still only around 67% and well down on where they should be.

 

[Sandy]

The two big reservoirs, Colliford and Roadford, that feed Plymouth and South Devon are both still only around 67% and well down on where they should be.

Given the amount of water that has fallen out of the sky over the winter they should be full.

The rain over the last week has been enough to have flood warnings!

 

[lustyd]

The whole idea of hosepipe ban is to reduce water usage. You sloshing buckets of fresh drinking water to wash a boat is very selfish and not public spirited at all.

Heck of a lot more proactive than the water companies though, eh? The reason they release sewage so often is the excess of water in the drains. Occam's razor would suggest a pump could kill two birds with one stone. The problem is they are intent on building massive infrastructure. All of this could be fixed if the infrastructure and storage were localised.

In a splurge of public spiritedness I installed a number of rainwater butts, and almost overnight accummulated 1,000 litres of clean rainwater. Chuffed with my contribution, I worked out from my water bill what I had saved. £1.48 I kid you not. If water is sold this cheaply, a) no wonder people waste it b) no wonder there is no money to fund improved infrastructure and c) there is no incentive for house builders to install rainwater or grey water systems.

Your water is only £1.48 for supply. There is a larger number associated with disposal, so your per litre cost is actually higher. Also, 1000l is 1m^3 which is the unit on your bill, and I suspect you're out by an order of magnitude on the cost - mine is much cheaper than £1.48 per cubic metre.

I calculated that my property receives about enough rain for 10 people, and a tank of just 10 cubic metres would be ample for the two of us. The market is screaming out for someone to start selling off grid processing and storage plants. A tank in the cellar/garden would be manageable for most properties, and an RO filter would make it much more drinkable than tap water.

 

[Momac]

I calculated that my property receives about enough rain for 10 people, and a tank of just 10 cubic metres would be ample for the two of us. The market is screaming out for someone to start selling off grid processing and storage plants. A tank in the cellar/garden would be manageable for most properties, and an RO filter would make it much more drinkable than tap water.

There is nothing new about rainwater harvesting although it's not considered economically viable for potable use where a mains water supply exists.

 

[lustyd]

There is nothing new about rainwater harvesting although it's not considered economically viable for potable use where a mains water supply exists.

Whether economically viable or not, it's rapidly becoming the only real viable solution in the UK as water companies fail to supply and meet demand, and fail to deal with sewage because of the excess rainwater. RO filtering is less than £1000 for freshwater so the only real cost is plumbing in a tank. Many households spend more than that on water softeners which would no longer be needed.

If harvesting rainwater isn't new, how come water companies aren't capable of capturing it outside of reservoirs? Seems like a no brainer, the only issue is they think it's either convert the whole UK to have two way pipes or do nothing, they never consider smaller scale implementations with localised storage. Eventually we'll have to accept the truth and do something, but I feel that something will be households doing their own thing, just like with solar.

 

[Sandy]

With the river Exe in full spate I wonder how many cubic metres are going straight into the sea.

My gardner friend, an excellent source of all things metrological, and I have decided that if we were to collect rainwater in potholes that would instantly solve the water shortage in Devon.