Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob
A serious question, how as a consumer in an area that might be affected (no one has formally told me, but I suspect I am), am I supposed to know that restrictions are legally applying and what those restrictions are? I haven't had any formal communication from my water company. Am I expected to have just somehow become aware because of articles in the news?
I have a pond, that to replace the current fish if they die might due to their size and age set me back perhaps over £2000. Can I use my hose to keep those fish alive by topping up the pond as it dries out, or to flush out the filters? My water board, not the internet or other gossip in media sources, should be formally adivsing me of what is or is not allowed.
Equally, if the water board are restricting my supply, will my water bill be similarly restricted. I am not metered.
Oh and there are a lot of suggestions about using showers instead of baths. I'm not convinced that actually saves that much water for many modern properties with mains or power showers especially if they have some of those larger shower heads. My own shower for example is well capable of running out of hot water from the cylinder after only a few minutes.
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Yes, I must admit I'd expected some form of notification from Thames Water but found all the detail prominently on their website. I'm not sure how much value bits of paper have as many people don't even bother to read them. As usual, those with a bit of common sense, hear it on the news or see it in the papers and make the effort to find out whilst those who think decanting petrol near an open flame is a good idea remain oblivious to it all. We recently received out water bill and there was no specific mention of the impending drought restrictions and that would have been a good idea IMHO.
Your point about simplistic advice re bath v. shower demonstrates the problem the authortities/companies have when trying to communicate important information to the widest possible audience. Most of us know the figures quoted can only be averages, that the amount of water used by a shower depends on all sorts of factors and will make suitable changes to our behaviour to try to save water. There's a sizeable proportion however for whom the new rules will mean nothing even if they bother to read them. For these people ignorance is indeed bliss and I wonder how many will think spending 15 mins in a power shower is saving water as compared to having a bath.
Anyway, here's Thames Water's offering.
http://www.thameswater.co.uk/cps/rde....xsl/15443.htm
Having said that, they've acted before the summer starts and I'd expect that now the ban is in force the water companies will be making extra efforts to communicate the facts to the public, the cost of which will ultimately be borne by the suffering customers.
---------- Post added at 10:42 ---------- Previous post was at 10:34 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheNorm
And what do you use on your car?  |
It's called Showroom Shine and I've been using it for several years. It is a fabulous product which requires no water and minimal effort, not only cleaning the vehicle but also protecting it and keeping it clean for longer. We're in a hard water area and water marks were always a big problem when cleaning our cars but now they're a thing of the past.
I got it from Ideal World because I'd be able to return it if not satisfied. I must admit I was a huge cynic before trying it but after doing so I've never used anything else. If you check out the reviews section you'll see it has a large number of primarily 5 star ratings.
http://www.idealworld.tv/BOGOF_Greased_Lightning_Showroom_Shine_1_Litre_171 785.aspx?fh_location=//idealworld/en_GB/$s=showroom
---------- Post added at 10:47 ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by heero_yuy
Desalination is a very expensive option both in up front costs and ongoing energy consumption.
Don't forget that leaky pipes just return the water to the ground water resource. It's not "lost". Leakage is more of a distribution and cost issue.
I bet if I used a hose from my water butt some busybody would shop me to the water company even though it's a quite legal use.
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Indeed. The cost of desalination, water grids and reservioir building would be huge with no guarantee that they'd be needed by the time they were eventually built. Imagine the fuss if £billions were spent on all that and then the weather reverted to our usual wet climate with flooding a regular event. To an extent HMG and the companies are damned if they do and damned if they don't.
Re leaks, I heard one environmental commentator making the point that if all the long standing leaks are fixed quite a large number of London's trees may either die or cause new subsidence problems in our clay soil.
The point about being reported for using a hose via a water butt is a good one which I've raised before in another thread. We'd like to use a hose to syphon bath water onto the garden but I'd be reluctant to do so for that very reason.