SE water shortages and the encouragement of snitching

My back garden always remains green because it is mainly moss! I love to walk on it in bare feet as it is so soft and springy! My front garden however looks more like straw at the moment but it won’t take long to recover, I think rain is forecast for next week here in Manchester.

Baggytrazzas No way, we live in a village, our front garden is not large,but next doors is large, has no fence or barrier and merges into a grass verge. They are non-gardeners and the grass grows for about 6 weeks then they pay someone to cut it.

I suspect it is because we are a spring-line village, sloping gently down into flood plain, the puzzle is why our maain back lawn is so dry, when the grass in the veg patch stays green, aand no, I have not been watering the veg. A combination of weather and ill health means the veg patch is a total loss this year, so I havn't wasted water on it.

We are Band G, we do not have a water meter, we could possibly save money by having one installed.

We do have a water harvesting tank sunk in the garden which holds 3,500 litres of rain water/run off water. This is used for all garden watering and all toilets can be switched over to use it also.

Our lawn is green and plants are flourishing.

M0nica just a thought, could the front be artificial grass?

M0nica

For no known reason the grass on my front garden is green. The back is as dry and brown as any Mrs Grundy could demand.

Why the front plot remains green, I have no idea, I certainly do not water it. It has been the same during other droughts. My next door neighbour's plot is similarly green.

M0nica, maybe your neighbour waters yours at the same time. But best watch out or you could be reported by curtain twitchers for having GREEN grass. Lol

For no known reason the grass on my front garden is green. The back is as dry and brown as any Mrs Grundy could demand.

Why the front plot remains green, I have no idea, I certainly do not water it. It has been the same during other droughts. My next door neighbour's plot is similarly green.

The "snitching" tactic is being used [ as it has before] to cement the idea in people's minds the problem has occurred because of the "bad" behaviour by the people. It has worked well in things like the pandemic, the climate and the benefit system. Convince the population that if only their fellow citizens would follow the rules then the problem will go away, whilst diverting attention away from the fact that years of mismanagement and failed policies from the government have anything to do with it. There is also an added bonus that lots of money can be made from selling everyone the "solutions" or imposing yet another tax. Whitehall has a whole department devoted to this practice, they are called the "nudge" unit.

But most mentions of the hosepipe bans that I have read have specifically said that the ban includes the use of sprinklers.
These paragraphs, for example, are from South East water:

" We have been left with no choice but to restrict the use of hosepipes and sprinklers from 00:01 on Friday 12th August within our Kent and Sussex supply area until further notice. "

" A “hosepipe” means anything designed, adapted or used to serve the same purpose as a hosepipe. This means garden sprinklers and most irrigation systems, connected to the mains water supply, are all considered to be hosepipes, together with anything attached to them like pressure washers. "

Sprinklers may be attached to a hose, but you could ban them independently of mere hosepipes which are not attached to sprinklers.

The "grass up a granny" campaign is just not on. Snitching on neighbours is just wrong and as has been mentioned the UK has a more than adequate rainfall each year and it is just being wasted.

We are not short of water because your neighbour is using a hosepipe. There have been no new reservoirs built for decades even though population has increased by 20% which means demands have increased by at least that. The water companies are leaking 3 billion litres of water every day due to lack of repairs and little investment in infrastructure. So stop peering over your neighbours fence, and direct your outrage to where it belongs. Don't allow the government and water companies to lay the blame at the feet of the people yet again.

Curious how most comments are about hosepipes rather than picking up on this part that I think is much more important: it is the responsibility of water companies and the government to provide adequate infrastructure to meet the demands of the population.

In a country like the UK where there is no real shortage of water, government and water companies have seriously let us down.

it is quite obvious who is watering their grass, surely? Mine is brown and even my privet hedge is looking considerably ropey.

Oh, sorry, oldnproud. Hadn't read your post when I posted.

vegansrock

But they should ban sprinklers then and not just hosepipes. This disadvantages the less abled who may spend a lot of time/ money on their garden. I actually think I use more water with a watering can.

Are sprinklers not attached to a hose?

vegansrock

But they should ban sprinklers then and not just hosepipes. This disadvantages the less abled who may spend a lot of time/ money on their garden. I actually think I use more water with a watering can.

But presumably, a sprinkler needs a hosepipe between it and the tap, so can't be used during the ban, anyway?

Went to our allotment to water, really hard work as we have to use pumps! Not watering my front garden now, it looks awful. Will so the pots at the back and fill cans from the hosepipe, cba ti unscrew it frim the tap.

You can fill your can from the tap the hosepipe is attached to.

Precisely; why would anyone go to the faff of unscrewing the hose attachment from the outside tap, just to fill the watering can, when you can just stick the hose in the can and fill it that way? But those with too much time on their hands see a hose being used and immediately judge.

I’m using two watering cans, backwards and forwards from the tap, only watering veg outside and in greenhouse.
Heard a neighbour using a hose two nights ago, we don’t know them and as blue badge holders can use their hoses I won’t approach them.

But they should ban sprinklers then and not just hosepipes. This disadvantages the less abled who may spend a lot of time/ money on their garden. I actually think I use more water with a watering can.

Hi Baggs, my id was more aligned to " what is this GN madness that I am reading" lol

You can fill your can from the tap the hosepipe is attached to, too.

But I think the point is that you're likely to use far less water using it by the can full than if you were to leave a hosepipe on for a long with a sprinkler...

You can fill your watering can from a hosepipe so what’s the point? Maybe the water companies should do something about the leaks which use up as much water as is supplied. Thames Water is the biggest culprit here. I for one will be watering my tomatoes and other plants ( not the lawn).

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Baggytrazzas

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Indeedy, baggytrazzas. BTW, I think we must be related. I've shortened my bagginess but it's still there and so are the baggytrazzas or, as a Welsh friend put it, curtain trousers ?. I really did make several pairs of baggy trousers out of old curtains and wore them all the time till they wore out. People would stop me in the street to ask where I got them from, so they were liked by others as well as by me.