Topic: Water Stand pipes or Water Troughs

[brian4951]

Hi all,
Could you let me know whether you have water troughs or standpipes on your sites?
I ask because our local parish council have taken it upon themselves (well actually the ranger who looks aftrer the site and the playing fields) without consulting our members association, to take away the standpipes, nine in total for 50x 5 rod plots, and replace them with just four, yes four, water troughs. We have a mix of plotholders, many retired and not so agile these days. Our concerns are, who or how are they filled and the build up of bacteria. Aslo the effort to transport water to uor plots, knowing water is heavy. Your thoughts would be most welcome. We have to act fast as we believe he is about to order them. For all this we pay £40.50 per year. Brian

[Unwashed]

Hi Brian, it's troughs and taps in Newbury.  I think it was just troughs but taps have been attached and people run long hoses.  A sprinkler ban is just being introduced.  As a rough guide water costs are generally around £1/pole per year, and probably a bit cheaper with troughs.  I'm hale are hearty, but it's too far for me to carry much water to the end of my plot and I'm reasonably close to a trough.

[brownowl23]

we have troughs only and a total of I think just 5 for 25 large plots. I am over 4 but have a bad back  so find carrying water a real hassle. we arent allowed to run hoses at all

[brian4951]

Thanks for your replies. We'll have to see if we can get the number of troughs increased. I doubt it though. The Council will complain about the cost.

[gp.girl]

5 troughs, about 60 plots.......no hose pipes allowded but if we are charged £1 for water it would cover the cost of less than 1 cubic metre of water around here so thats a bargain really. Mine is in the middle of 2 of them  :( so I don't water much just a lots and lots of mulch......

We lost the water for 1 week this year due to a leak  :( and stupid repair  :'( the whole system needs an overhaul really.......

Lots of things grow in the troughs but it doesn't seem to cause a problem.

[Trevor_D]

We don't allow standpipes or taps, but we have troughs on or near every plot, and if necessary we're prepared to add more.

But then we're a private site and we pay the water bill ourselves. We can't afford for people to start using hosepipes or sprinklers - hosepipes are actually banned in our Terms & Conditions. We also have the water on a timer, so that it turns itself off at night, and we've just turned it off manually for the winter. I take regular meter readings and we do regular checks for leaks.

A trough is actually quicker and more efficient than a tap, but carrying water's no joke - you've got to have plenty of troughs. Doubling the number of troughs doesn't remotely double the amount of water used.

[Unwashed]

But then we're a private site and we pay the water bill ourselves. We can't afford for people to start using hosepipes or sprinklers - hosepipes are actually banned in our Terms & Conditions. We also have the water on a timer, so that it turns itself off at night, and we've just turned it off manually for the winter. I take regular meter readings and we do regular checks for leaks.

That's the kind of careful management that pays dividends Trevor.  We've just had a sprinkler ban imposed accross all six sites because the councillors only look at the total water bill, they have no idea about the useage patterns.  From an analysis of the bills I can see that at one site last year's autumn quarter showed twice the usual usage - an extra £300 - and an anomoly like that is difficult to account for other than by leakage.  Unfortunately the Council don't bother, and so the next quarter between November and February another £510 leaked away.

[Trevor_D]

Thanks - we do try to be fairly efficient. (I've got to do something to justify my vast salary!)

[Digeroo]

We have three taps and two taps with troughs for about 40 people.  Hose pipes are banned except for filling butts.  I have 1/2 allotment and 1/4 and the smaller one uses relatively considerably less water since it is nearer the water table once the plants get going they do not seem to need much water.  The other most is up a slope and it eats water. 

Some people use a great deal more water than others.   We are luckily on a well system and to my surprise it does not seem to have run dry apart from a couple of times a tap was left running but is has only taken a few hours to refill.

I really fancy a borehole at home.  Up to now water has been cheap, but now it is increasingly more expensive it seems ridiiculous to pay unnecessarily for drinking quality water to spray on the garden or flush the loo.

[Unwashed]

I really fancy a borehole at home.  Up to now water has been cheap, but now it is increasingly more expensive it seems ridiiculous to pay unnecessarily for drinking quality water to spray on the garden or flush the loo.

I've been thinking the same too.  It's not very sustainable, and if tap water gets a little more expensive then the pay-back on a well might only be a few years, though as mostly we'd need solar pumping that does put the cost up a bit.

[BAK]

We have 5 troughs (filled from the mains). Each trough also has a tap on the side. In addition, there are 2 standpipes. There are 54 plots on the site.

Hosepipes are allowed but must not be left unattended.

The water is turned on for the season when the clocks go forward .... and is turned off for the winter when the clocks go back.

[tonybloke]

I really fancy a borehole at home.  Up to now water has been cheap, but now it is increasingly more expensive it seems ridiiculous to pay unnecessarily for drinking quality water to spray on the garden or flush the loo.

I've been thinking the same too.  It's not very sustainable, and if tap water gets a little more expensive then the pay-back on a well might only be a few years, though as mostly we'd need solar pumping that does put the cost up a bit.

My dad has sunk a borehole in his back garden, 22 ft deep.with a small electric pump it delivers plenty of water for the parents gardens.

[Mr Smith]

We have only two taps on our allotments for twentyfive of us and it certainly causes problems in dry weather when everyone wants to water at the same time, personally I'm up there first thing in the morning, I think the correct number of taps to have is one per four allotments rather than troughs

[Froglegs]

It's not very often i use the taps on my site i much prefer to use a watering can and water each plant  with water from me water butts

[Digeroo]

My dad has sunk a borehole in his back garden

I am very interested in this.  How did he sink the borehole.  Did he have it drilled how approx how much does it cost.  I don't think I need to go that far.  The house opposite had water on the conrete pad in a very dry summer when they were building it and the house opposite them was built on an underground lake.

[taurus]

We have 3 water tanks evenly space between 20 plots.  We keep them covered year round  with timber doors to avoid contamination and evaporation.  Hose pipes are banned.  I have 2 water buts that collect rain water from my friends garage roof that backs on to my plot.  The water level is very high here so I find its only the raised beds that need lots of watering in really dry weather.

[PurpleHeather]

I would be interested to find out how on earth any allotment site can police the use of hose pipes or sprinklers since there must be those who will be prepared to come on at ridiculous times to use one.

Our members choose to allow hose pipes and are prepared to pay for what ever the bill is for the metered water. Though to be fair, they are all experienced gardeners now and few if any use water unnecessarily. The cost is between £10-£12 a year per plot depending on the weather. Many of them are either elderly and/or disabled so humping around cans of water is not an option.

The only objection we have ever had is when one member (no longer has a plot) used to turn his sprinkler on, on the way to work then off again on the way home. A word in his ear about hogging the water point all day and he stopped it.

We were once told not to use troughs because the rats would drink from them but, there are usually puddles enough around to satisfy a few rats.

[theothermarg]

we have 3 troughs for app 40 plots. I have a water but in the hedge where water runs in from a ajoining
farm building so rarely use them
marg