What to do during hosepipe ban?

Graces7

prinzeugen wrote: »

I suggest people don't use dishwater or anything else to water plants.

Risk of infection..

Fresh/clean rain water only!! Bathwater if it is non ionic!

Infection from what please?

harr

No rain here in kildare yet but I have noticed the lawns have started to recover slightly already.
The lower night temps leaving dew on the grass seems to be helping definitely not as yellow as a few days ago..

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

prinzeugen wrote: »

I suggest people don't use dishwater or anything else to water plants.

Risk of infection..

Fresh/clean rain water only!! Bathwater if it is non ionic!

You might want to explain that a bit more as it flies in the face of all advice, including the RHS. We have used grey water for the garden for generations without infection. Having a science and environmental protection background I'd really appreciate some insight from you on this.

As for 'rain water only' - absolute nonsense except for very specific and uncommon plants.

Pawwed Rig

I watered my lawn with the left over bath water the other day and it has made a huge difference.

I cannot see anyway to do it without using a hosepipe though. A bucket would take for ever never mind the potential of spilling the water in the house.

recedite

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

I watered my lawn with the left over bath water the other day and it has made a huge difference.

I cannot see anyway to do it without using a hosepipe though. A bucket would take for ever never mind the potential of spilling the water in the house.

Difficult to explain to the neighbours that the hosepipe coming out of the upstairs bathroom window is not connected to the tap, and anyway it was "only a small bath".

robp

It's drifting away from gardening but water saving shower heads are supposed to be very effective at saving water use but they are hard to find in DIY shops.

TomOnBoard

I got in just before the ban:

Pawwed Rig

robp wrote: »

It's drifting away from gardening but water saving shower heads are supposed to be very effective at saving water use but they are hard to find in DIY shops.

I was thinking about this recently (well no specifically shower heads but.....) and usually I am very careful to conserve water using the minimum and reusing when I can. I am thinking now that I am wasting my time given that the usage is built into the supply. Were the water metered there would be soe benefit but as is I think I am just stressing myself.

robp

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

I was thinking about this recently (well no specifically shower heads but.....) and usually I am very careful to conserve water using the minimum and reusing when I can. I am thinking now that I am wasting my time given that the usage is built into the supply. Were the water metered there would be soe benefit but as is I think I am just stressing myself.

It seems to be possible to get high efficient taps and shower heads online and they are not expensive. I will be trying this approach.

May Contain Small Parts

robp wrote: »

It seems to be possible to get high efficient taps and shower heads online and they are not expensive. I will be trying this approach.

Make sure to check the specs - most of them are designed to work on mains-pressurised systems that are standard in yonder parts.

magicbastarder

speaking of such pressures, i was wondering why they didn't drop the pressure in general. it wouldn't necessarily change the amount of water people use - if anything, it'd probably reduce slightly, but surely a pressure drop would have greatest impact on the 50%+ loss to leaks in the system?

May Contain Small Parts

magicbastarder wrote: »

speaking of such pressures, i was wondering why they didn't drop the pressure in general. it wouldn't necessarily change the amount of water people use - if anything, it'd probably reduce slightly, but surely a pressure drop would have greatest impact on the 50%+ loss to leaks in the system?

They are at night. The general problem is that not every house and water tank is at the same height or distance from the reservoir. In Dublin especially, mains pressure is generally pretty low anyway and the whole thing finely balanced.

If you were to drop pressure all the time you'd completely cut off some people

...and why does 50%+ loss keep getting thrown around? It was 41%in2017 and should be a few percent lower now (it's still terrible of course)

my3cents

May Contain Small Parts wrote: »

They are at night. The general problem is that not every house and water tank is at the same height or distance from the reservoir. In Dublin especially, mains pressure is generally pretty low anyway and the whole thing finely balanced.

If you were to drop pressure all the time you'd completely cut off some people

...and why does 50%+ loss keep getting thrown around? It was 41%in2017 and should be a few percent lower now (it's still terrible of course)

45% quoted here

Conservation and leakage reduction: Irish Water will implement important measures to make water use more sustainable and efficient, reducing leakage in our water network from 45% of all water produced down to 37% by 2021, based on 2017 figures.

prinzeugen

May Contain Small Parts wrote: »

Make sure to check the specs - most of them are designed to work on mains-pressurised systems that are standard in yonder parts.

+1

I know they do not work from a gravity fed system. Spent a fortune on shower heads only to discover I can piss stronger that what comes out the shower head.

Still using the old 1980's head as its the only one that works.

Billgirlylegs

magicbastarder wrote: »

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/irish-water-spends-100k-a-day-on-new-water-meters-35786844.html

52k water meters installed at a cost of €29.7m; which is over €500 per meter. doesn't mean all that is going to the contractor, but it's a ballpark start.

was an odd decision; where do you get the money to fix the leaks? charge people for the water. but where do you get the money to install the meters?

Now you are beginning to catch up. Unfortunately, you think IW are like yourself, honourable and truthful.
They clearly are not. The business plan is leakier than the network.
It is a scam, with utter contempt for householders.

Someone earlier blamed the "diminishing supply" on Paul Murphy and co.. Not even in a hundred lifetimes could he or the lefties create such a fiasco.

Billgirlylegs

magicbastarder wrote: »

speaking of such pressures, i was wondering why they didn't drop the pressure in general. it wouldn't necessarily change the amount of water people use - if anything, it'd probably reduce slightly, but surely a pressure drop would have greatest impact on the 50%+ loss to leaks in the system?

The only reason to reduce the flow at night is to reduce the leaks.
As most those pesky customers are in bed, and not "wasting water", pressure within the system builds.
As they won't bother fixing leaks, "usage" at night will be remarkably similar to daytime use when the afore mentioned customers are "wasting" it.
The "hosepipe ban" is frankly horse...., and is purely cover the throttling/shutting off overnight.
As is the whole "install meters to reveal leaks".
If that was the case, with the number of domestic meters installed, a significant number of leaks would be identified by now.(wouldn't they?)

How many repair crews have you seen out and about?
Or leaks can you see (wet footpaths and suspiciously green patches in grass verges)

Snowc

Is this ban being taking seriously ? I have reported a lot of my neighbors who I have seeing using their hoses during the drought conditions but no action seems to have being taking against them.I was taking to a neighbor today who I reported and she said how would they know if she used a hose to water her lawn so obviously nothing being done .It makes my blood boil :mad:

recedite

Snowc wrote: »

Is this ban being taking seriously ? I have reported a lot of my neighbors who I have seeing using their hoses during the drought conditions but no action seems to have being taking against them.I was taking to a neighbor today who I reported and she said how would they know if she used a hose to water her lawn so obviously nothing being done .It makes my blood boil :mad:

I'm only guessing now, but I would say somebody might be send round to quietly read the meter. If "excessive usage" was found to have occurred then maybe some bill would be sent out. But I don't think there is any precise definition of "excessive usage", and I don't think they would enquire about the actual hosepipe usage. It is quite possible (for example an elderly person watering a few roses with a hosepipe) that the household would show below average usage.


I'd suggest not reporting people because it could lead to lasting "bad blood".


Its symptomatic of poor government when ordinary people are pitted against each other in other to cover up what is plainly an administrative/governmental failure. That's the part that really annoys me.

Cyrus

Snowc wrote: »

Is this ban being taking seriously ? I have reported a lot of my neighbors who I have seeing using their hoses during the drought conditions but no action seems to have being taking against them.I was taking to a neighbor today who I reported and she said how would they know if she used a hose to water her lawn so obviously nothing being done .It makes my blood boil :mad:

id calm down a little your neighbour may be using less water than you are, the hosepipe ban is a crude measure but i wouldnt be too quick to get up on a high horse

celticbhoy27

Walking around my garden and it's devastating to see the state of my flower beds. Everything looks dead or dying. It's huge area so watering can not an option and hose obviously not either. Never wanted the heavens to open up so badly in my life

BuboBubo

My laurel hedges and griselinia are dropping a lot of dried leaves, my mature trees are starting to droop too. It's frightening how unhealthy they are right now.

My window boxes and flower pots are surviving on my manky grey shower water (deep plastic tray inside the cubicle to save the water). The lawn is a scorched dead loss.

celticbhoy27

celticbhoy27 wrote: »

Walking around my garden and it's devastating to see the state of my flower beds. Everything looks dead or dying. It's huge area so watering can not an option and hose obviously not either. Never wanted the heavens to open up so badly in my life

I have a fern type plant for the last few years. It looked dead last week. Sunday, we had heavy drizzle all day. This evening, it’s alive again! Really had it written off!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

All looking reasonable now after the rain on Sunday. Grass is fairly good thanks to all the waste water thrown on it, having been watered well before the ban, and was cut high for the previous four weeks, but it's over half an acre of lawn so, naturally, some areas worse than others. Flower beds all seem to have bounced back.

magicbastarder

some scattered showers possible for friday according to the forecast.

standardg60

"some scattered showers possible" is in every forecast!

It covers a multitude :-).

harr

Had rain here ( kildare) on and off since Sunday, rained all day Sunday and had a few heavy showers since. Cut lawns today and while the colour has started to return the soil is still rock hard and cracked, the rain barely made any impact to soil conditions..and my garden would be considered fairly wet at best of times.
I have never seen it bone dry like this..

Wheety

Well, I'd say my water butt is full again. :eek:

magicbastarder

our 200l one more than filled - i topped the pond up this morning with it - about 200l worth - and it's still full.

Wheety

magicbastarder wrote: »

our 200l one more than filled - i topped the pond up this morning with it - about 200l worth - and it's still full.

Mine is only connected to the garage but the amount of water that comes from the roof of it. Will get a second 200l and daisy chain them.

Then will have to get one for the house.

I'm shocked at the amount of water we waste in the house too. Filling a basin several times a day in the kitchen sink with water from washing hands and veg and rinsing dishes after washing them.

Pawwed Rig

Water from the tap this morning was filthy. Grand now that the pressure is back up. I had already consumed over a litre before realising it was dirty