Ban!!

[red_dwarfers]

The joys of living in the south west, in my (well, fairly short time on this planet) I've not known of a hosepipe ban down here. Although my parents do like to remind me of the great drought of '76 in which they found an old bridge in a reservoir.

I always assumed that the hosepipe ban was just that and that buckets are okay as not so much water is used.

[waynedance]

The joys of living in the south west, in my (well, fairly short time on this planet) I've not known of a hosepipe ban down here. Although my parents do like to remind me of the great drought of '76 in which they found an old bridge in a reservoir.

I always assumed that the hosepipe ban was just that and that buckets are okay as not so much water is used.

I will just use the car wash..............

[Citroenmad]

No hosepipe ban up here either, we have no shortage of water up here

[DickieG]

I washed my fleet yesterday as the area I live in is subject to the ban, I can see why the ban has been brought in as the ground is so dry there are large cracks appearing everywhere there is bare earth/grass, what is rain?

[Citroenmad]

I washed my fleet yesterday as the area I live in is subject to the ban, I can see why the ban has been brought in as the ground is so dry there are large cracks appearing everywhere there is bare earth/grass, what is rain?

You should have been here on Tuesday, pouring down all day, the roads were like rivers!

Maybe us Northeners should start stockpiling our waters and selling it South

[DickieG]

You should have been here on Tuesday, pouring down all day, the roads were like rivers!

My daughter popped up to Alton Towers yesterday and was effectively snowed in as the snow had felled trees which in turn knocked out power lines meaning the park was closed plus they couldn't leave the hotel within the park grounds due to power lines being down across the road, yet here I was walking about in a 'T' shirt

Maybe us Northeners should start stockpiling our waters and selling it South

Now that is common sense so very unlikely to happen

[Citroenmad]

My daughter popped up to Alton Towers yesterday and was effectively snowed in as the snow had felled trees which in turn knocked out power lines meaning the park was closed plus they couldn't leave the hotel within the park grounds due to power lines being down across the road, yet here I was walking about in a 'T' shirt

There have been power cuts up here too, some people have gone without electricity for over 24 hours. Though more due to the high winds than the snow.

Maybe us Northeners should start stockpiling our waters and selling it South

Now that is common sense so very unlikely to happen

Ah, we're the sensible ones, thats why we are up here with all of the water

[addo]

You should all (in affected areas) start watering the footings/foundations of your houses, NOW. Put lightly buried weeping hoses on a tap timer.

Far cheaper than underpinning.

[ACTIVE8]

You should all (in affected areas) start watering the footings/foundations of your houses, NOW. Put lightly buried weeping hoses on a tap timer.

Far cheaper than underpinning.

Hi Addo

Do you speak from the experience of having to use your idea.

[addo]

Sort of. I was too late, and had to bore pipes 6' into the ground, and keep them charged with water and a surfactant.

A lot of heritage architects will advocate keeping the ground damp as described.

[DickieG]

Addo certainly has a point as I recall the problems of subsidence that came about a few years after the big drought of 76 with in some instances whole housing estates suffering making them all but impossible to sell as it was impossible to get a mortgage.

[ACTIVE8]

A workmate told me about this story he had come across regarding flushing.

Here's the online story from the paper he saw it in.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne ... sters.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ACTIVE8]

Well I washed it earlier before posting, at a useful DIY jet wash open all night.

I take my own brush and cleaning liquid, no queues when you go there as I wait until it will be less busy, and then go out for a long Italian tune up!

[addo]

If there was a better grey water system, that could be used for mains flushing. I believe the purging as described, is necessary because of deteriorated services (ie; inside of pipes less then optimum condition) and marginal capacity. Given the small grades on many large bore services (sewers/rainwater) if sediment or sludge buildup it can quickly gain on you.

Re the '76 drought - a lot of the "expert underpinners" seemed to come over here, once their shonky work was outed... And I have seen polyurethane injection used several times - it works, but by no means the magic bullet suggested by its exponents. Usually it will find a way into cracks and wedge parts of the footing wider open. Pus, the pricing is somewhere between extortion and highway robbery.

[Xaccers]

When I lived Dahn Sowf there was a news feature on a chap living on the Izzle of Wigit who re-used his grey water in flushing and supplemented this with rain water collected from water butts on his roof.
Rather than applauding his recycling of water, the local water company were complaining saying that they were having to deal with more waste water from him than he was paying for (waste water charge is usually a % of water taking in by a household) despite the fact that they'd still have to deal with the rain water and grey water he was using anyway.
There's also the millions that water companies have made charging people for taking away their surface water where the households actually have their own drainage (you can only claim the last 6 years charges where as in some places they've been charging for 25 years!).