Thames Water - hose ban!

There has been a water leak from the mains in our road, since last Friday, which has been reported numerous times. The water board answer is we should get to you within a working week. The leak is so bad the drain in the road is now blocked, also been reported. So why ban hose pipes when there is no rush to fix leaks.

Get a water butt and fill it up before the ban.....

We have just had our Thames Water bill update and it has trebled !!

Thames Water issued a double page spread in the paper before the hose ban was introduced. Hidden amongst the small print was a list of exemptions, including people on the priority services register, and a link to an online form. I applied straight away and was added to the register without further proof needed (I have limited hand movement due to arthritis). They certainly don't want to advertise it and it was only because a friend told me about it that I followed it up.

Double filters, nanna8 - one to the taps then a filter on the fridge too for drinking water.

nanna8

Allira

nanna8

We had this for years and years and many of us got our own water tanks and attached them to the drainpipes. Then we put out signs saying ‘tank water used for gardening’ because typically over zealous people would report you for wasting water otherwise ( yes, we are a nation of dobbers)

DD and SIL were not on mains water where they lived.
Water came direct from the reservoir - unfiltered for irrigation, and rainwater caught from the roofs and collected in a huge underground tank, then filtered for household use.

I bet it was a lovely rural area. We used to have a beach house not on mains water but bore water. After a while they told us we shouldn’t drink it because it had become polluted because of more housing development down there. A shame because it had a certain flavour I liked. We drank tank water after that ( probably worse !)

Yes it was!

They are on bore water now and, I think, rainwater.

I think we've had some rain every day since the ban came into place so no watering needed. I'm in Kent.

Allira

nanna8

We had this for years and years and many of us got our own water tanks and attached them to the drainpipes. Then we put out signs saying ‘tank water used for gardening’ because typically over zealous people would report you for wasting water otherwise ( yes, we are a nation of dobbers)

DD and SIL were not on mains water where they lived.
Water came direct from the reservoir - unfiltered for irrigation, and rainwater caught from the roofs and collected in a huge underground tank, then filtered for household use.

I bet it was a lovely rural area. We used to have a beach house not on mains water but bore water. After a while they told us we shouldn’t drink it because it had become polluted because of more housing development down there. A shame because it had a certain flavour I liked. We drank tank water after that ( probably worse !)

nanna8

We had this for years and years and many of us got our own water tanks and attached them to the drainpipes. Then we put out signs saying ‘tank water used for gardening’ because typically over zealous people would report you for wasting water otherwise ( yes, we are a nation of dobbers)

DD and SIL were not on mains water where they lived.
Water came direct from the reservoir - unfiltered for irrigation, and rainwater caught from the roofs and collected in a huge underground tank, then filtered for household use.

nanna8, I never knew that.

I tore the meniscus in my knee carrying watering cans.
The had a knee replacement, now a fracture.

So yes, I do have a limp but no Blue Badge (they're very mean here!) and no, I wouldn't clean my car or patio and drive if there was a hosepipe ban, David49! But I would water the vegetables.

Anyway, it rained today. Saved by the weather.

Monica you’re a star 🤩 I got Mum on that list now, there’s no way she can carry watering cans even tho her garden is a small one.

David49

MaizieD

BBC ‘explainer, David

Who is exempt from a hosepipe ban?

Food crops in allotments or home gardens, if they cannot reasonably be watered with a watering can.

www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/cyvj2lm2p14o

Pretty much Carte Blanche for anyone who can limp to carry on whether it’s veg or flowers or lawn

You have to be on the Priority Register, which means you need to meet the evidence level that the water provider sets.

I would suspect that the proportion of those on the Priority Register who have large gardens, large cars, allotments and paths that need continual cleaning, is significantly smalller than in the wider population.

We had this for years and years and many of us got our own water tanks and attached them to the drainpipes. Then we put out signs saying ‘tank water used for gardening’ because typically over zealous people would report you for wasting water otherwise ( yes, we are a nation of dobbers)

MaizieD

BBC ‘explainer, David

Who is exempt from a hosepipe ban?

Food crops in allotments or home gardens, if they cannot reasonably be watered with a watering can.

www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/cyvj2lm2p14o

Pretty much Carte Blanche for anyone who can limp to carry on whether it’s veg or flowers or lawn

Thanks again M0nica, after some Doubting Thomases!

David49

I’m not sure Water Priority schemes allow you to water veg with a hosepipe, if it was me I would carry on discretely watering and plead ignorance if called to account.
I wouldn’t use a sprinkler or wash the car but keeping vegetables growing I would justify.

People with severe mobility problems (whether they hold a current Blue Badge as issued by their local authority or not) will not be prohibited from using a hosepipe to: (a) water a garden attached to a domestic dwelling, (b) clean a private motor vehicle, (c) water plants on domestic or other non-commercial premises, (d) water allotments where the Blue Badge holder is the tenant, (e) fill or maintain a domestic pond, (f) clean walls or windows of domestic premises, (g) clean paths or patios; or (h) clean other artificial surfaces;

This a direct quote from Section 12 of the Thames Water Legal Notice announcing the ban www.thameswater.co.uk/help/water-supply-and-drought-update/legal-notice

BBC ‘explainer, David

Who is exempt from a hosepipe ban?

Food crops in allotments or home gardens, if they cannot reasonably be watered with a watering can.

www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/cyvj2lm2p14o

I’m not sure Water Priority schemes allow you to water veg with a hosepipe, if it was me I would carry on discretely watering and plead ignorance if called to account.
I wouldn’t use a sprinkler or wash the car but keeping vegetables growing I would justify.

Thanks MOnica, that’s so useful.
I’m north west, our reservoirs are so low we expected a hose ban but recent downpours mean we are ok for now, I have RA and osteo so watering cans a challenge, I’m not watering the borders, just pots

I can't remember if it was specific to the Yorkshire Water hosepipe ban, but I read that watering of vegetables grown for food was exempt. It might be worth checking the terms/conditions of the ban.

I did the same on the day before the watering ban began. There’s a long list of reasons to join their priority register and I was eligible on several counts.

Done! Thanks, M0nica (!)

Alie
You have to be signed up with their Priority Service for vulnrable people..

www.thameswater.co.uk/help/get-extra-help/priority-services

I would make sure you are signed onto the priority service and then just use your hose, without seeking any more formal consent. The fact that you are on the list is exemption enough.