Topic: Thames Water want to ban water use !!!

[southernsteve]

Hi all

 Seen in the Daily Mail yesterday that Thames Water want to ban allotment holders from watering their plots!

[Old bird]

I didn't see the report but, as far as I know, they can't stop you watering with a watering can only hosepipes watering could be banned.

[norfolklass]

someone on our plot had a sprinkler going all day on Sunday :o :(

[Nelson]

someone on our plot had a sprinkler going all day on Sunday :o :(

That's apalling, I'd have turned it off!  We're not allowed hosepipes, we have a cistern type thing between every dozen or so plots.

[Trixiebelle]

I've been thinking about this today (whilst watering at the allotment!)

I do feel guilty using a hosepipe and try and save as much water as I can wherever I can, at home and at the allotment.

At home my bog doesn't get flushed as often as the 'normal' household's and I can be seen perched on top of my compost bin in the back garden getting rid of liquid waste in a most economical manner  ;D

Actually, I tell a fib ... I CAN'T be seen 'perched' or I wouldn't do it .. I have high hedges  ;D

Our allotment rent includes ground rent and water charges. If you look at the % of the water charges they are miniscule. Thinking today, I wouldn't mind paying DOUBLE water charges to be able to use hosepipes.

If all lotties were asked to pay double it would obviously not go down too well with the majority of plot-holders - especially considering the amount that the water authorities waste through lack of repairs etc. And of course it STILL doesn't help water shortages in the long run.

And thinking again, I think we're very priviledged to have water AT ALL considering some drought-ridden countries.

The argument for allowing watering on allotments is that: we are doing our bit for the 'health of the nation' and in some cases, are doing it to sustain ourselves. After all, if we can't water our crops and everything dies, we then have to buy them from ELSEWHERE (supermarkets etc) that probably has a commercial licence for watering to keep the profit margins up AND use pesticides that destroy the environment/health to boot.

I think whoever is responsible for banning water use on allotments needs to look at the whole picture and not just 'lump us in' with people who want to keep their lawns green in the Summer. That's not for sustainance, it's just for vanity.

THUS ENDETH MY SERMON ON THE MATTER  ;D

Anyone else out there willing to pay more water rates for use of hosepipes on lotties? Would be interesting to find out.

Trixie X

[dandelion]

After all, if we can't water our crops and everything dies, we then have to buy them from ELSEWHERE (supermarkets etc) that probably has a commercial licence for watering to keep the profit margins up AND use pesticides that destroy the environment/health to boot.

I think that's the essence of it Trixiebelle!

We have standpipes. Our Lotties are next to a brook; you can still see some steps leading down to the water, but access to the brook is overgrown with brambles.  I wonder if we'd be allowed to take water from the brook if there was ever a ban by the water company???

[flowerlady]

Nice one Trixie ... though don't think I will be seen on my compost heap ... 'tis a might exposed !!! ;D

We too leave flushing the loo when not necessary, and are getting prepared to re-cycle the grey water from the house in readiness for the next hose pipe ban which will be inevitable I supppose ... Herts & Three Valleys  :-X

[tim]

Had to flush the loo before the surveyor came this am!!
Are not lotterers as entitled to their 'earnings' as a car wash - or a golf club??

[kenkew]

someone on our plot had a sprinkler going all day on Sunday :o :(

That's probably why there's a ban!!

Dedicated lottie people have seen this all before and now take steps where-ever possible to store rain water.

Buy butts.

[okra]

Hope the Daily Mail are wrong, we were told that the winter rain was above average surely we could not have depleted the resevoirs yet?

[dandelion]

Dedicated lottie people have seen this all before and now take steps where-ever possible to store rain water.

Buy butts.

No chance of saving rainwater without sheds our greenhouses (not allowed on our site)  :(.

[Marymary]

Sounds like typical Daily Mail scaremongering to me & that if TW fixed even a tiny percentage of their own leaks then there would be no water shortage.

[jennym]

..No chance of saving rainwater without sheds our greenhouses (not allowed on our site)  :(.

This might be a way, posted earlier this year:
You can fill a water butt by putting four posts in the ground at a height above the water container, then secure a tarpaulin at the four corners to the top of the posts, then make a small hole in the centre of the tarpaulin and put the container under the hole. The rain falls onto the tarpaulin and runs into the container. Helps if you put a small piece of galvanised iron mesh into the tarpaulin at the hole area so it weighs it down a bit.

[Larkshall]

Sounds like typical Daily Mail scaremongering to me

Always work on the premise that ALL journalists are liars (some more than others).

I have a water meter and that concentrates your mind on saving water, you mentally see the dial going round.

[Suzanne]

I now have two allotments. First one no mains water but can take water (bu=y watering can from a very small brook). Second allotment no water at all - must save in the a water butt (I have no shed on site yet) or carry it to site. Does make you think about what you are planting and how you use water though!

[kt.]

If thames water ban water on allotments then does that mean you get a rent reduction.... Does it mean all council and government gardens are not going to get watered..

Water on our site has a meter. The annual rent rise is partially dictated by any outstanding costs at the end of the financial year. We are not allowed hose pipes & I believe this is rightly so. My only gripe with this water meter is that there is no access near my plot. So if i don't gather rain water - its a 15minute round trip to the nearest tap to get a water can filled. All others except the half dozen on my row are only 2 minutes from each tap.

[cornykev]

You should have words KT sharpish.  :o ;D ;D ;D

[kt.]

You should have words KT sharpish.  :o ;D ;D ;D

I did at the allotment monthly meeting last week. I was told there is not enough funding for a tap on our strip of plots. Every other strip on the site has at least 1 tap, some have 2. I have been told that if I dig the minimum depth of 2ft from a tap all the way round to where we would like it then it would be done. It would have to go the long way round as I cant see any plot holders allowing us to dig around the perimeter of their plot. As I don't have a spare 40hr week for 4 weeks digging I guess it is a no then. Not Happy. >:(

[Old bird]

Sorry - but sticking my spoke in again.  Thames Water have to supply water to a Huge number of people, business etc.  There may have been a lot of rain during last winter but - imagine if you will the huge huge number of people that use and abuse the water system!  The number of washing machines, baths, dishwashers, carwashes, loo flushes, golf course watering, farmers watering, animals and livestock watering, garden watering general wasteage from the massive - and I mean MASSIVE number of people in and around the Thames Water region - to me it is not a complete mystery why there is a shortage of water in the area.

We all need to be more green when we come to use all services be it electricity, gas or water.  Does it really matter if the car is dirty. 

I think we use too much water on plants and veggies anyway and if the vegetables had their own way they use their natural survival instinct when times are hard.  Obviously when they are little they need a bit of water to get them going but afterwards they can survive on a lot less water than we are prone to give them!

My point of view and I doubt that many will agree with me.  Always like to stir up a bit of controversy!

Old Bird ;D

[Suzanne]

Nothing wrong with being controversial Old Bird. Due to my anticipated problems this summer on lottie 2 I have just bought a book "Gardens without water". And hey-ho they recommend for veggies the terracotta pot in the soil trick to act as cheap drip feed. So off to B&Q to bulk buy. I'll let you know if it works as I plan to put my squash and sweetcorn up there.