SE water shortages and the encouragement of snitching

I’d rather “snitch” on the sewerage being dump continuously in our rivers and seas.

Curtain twitchers across the country have been waiting anxiously for another excuse to snoop on their neighbours ever since the COVID lockdowns were lifted, so this must be like manna from heaven for them. I saw on MN yesterday that someone was considering snitching on their neighbours because, although they were watering their garden with a watering can, they were filling the watering can from a garden hose. And garden hoses were banned. Sigh.

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Whitewavemark2

I’d rather “snitch” on the sewerage being dump continuously in our rivers and seas.

Yes!

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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.

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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).

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...

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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. "

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.