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What to do during hosepipe ban?

Cyrus

Perhaps a stupid qn but is there anything that can be done to try help a garden when the hosepipe ban is in force and you can’t water ?

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standardg60

xboxdad wrote: »

Yes, it is new lawn laid with turf and I do see gaps between the turves.
However, since I kept watering it, the grass kept growing and it's approx 2 inches long now. I see very little of what's going on at ground level now. Hopefully it's not shrinking..

The fact it's growing means the turf has already rooted so you're past the critical point of danger. I wouldn't bother with a sprinkler now (or at any time really) as a lot of the water is lost to evaporation or simply misses the area.

You're way better off to lay the bare hose directly on the lawn, let it soak for a couple of minutes and then move to another area. The edges will be most particularly at risk. This way you'll only need to use a hose for ten minutes.

Obviously this is only in the case of newly turfed lawns where there's great expense gone to.

standardg60

Mark Horgan wrote: »

Get up to speed here Mary, leaks and demand don’t be long depleting a reservoir.

Mary is well up to speed as am I.
Poulaphouca is well above normal for the time of year.
It's stupidity like watering a two year old lawn every night for six weeks that has lead to the restriction.

tvjunki

Living Off The Splash wrote: »

We have a 5 litre empty bottles beside all the sinks in our house. When we run the hot tap we collect all the cold water in this container until it runs warm. We usually can collect 4 litres of cold water. This is then transferred to the cistern. We have been doing this for years.

I have several raised beds with vegetables. I will water these as needs be. I do not waste water.

Is it not possible for Irish Water to collect all the rainwater that fell in early Spring for use in situations like this?

The 5litre bottle thing is a great idea.

Use a watering can with sprinkler top depending on the size of the garden.

I also have a water but the size of an oil tank linked to the shed roof and that fills up quickly in the winter. The plants love it as the leaves in the guttering break down into the water.
I collect the water from cleaning veg and boiling veg. I leave to cool and put that on the plants.

We waste a lot of water here. I think the water collected on the roof is not used and ends up being dumped out to sea. In the U.K. Run off water is gathered processed and used.

standardg60

tvjunki wrote: »

The 5litre bottle thing is a great idea.

Use a watering can with sprinkler top depending on the size of the garden.

I also have a water but the size of an oil tank linked to the shed roof and that fills up quickly in the winter. The plants love it as the leaves in the guttering break down into the water.
I collect the water from cleaning veg and boiling veg. I leave to cool and put that on the plants.

We waste a lot of water here. I think the water collected on the roof is not used and ends up being dumped out to sea. In the U.K. Run off water is gathered processed and used.

I'd love to know what happens to the run off water too, I have separate drains for the house and gutters but certainly in Dublin most of the older houses run into the same one and more often than not the sink /washing machine pipe is directed into the gutter downpipe drain so it's probably impossible to do anything other than dump it.

cbreeze

There is one glorious green garden in my street and all the others are yellow. Hmmm!

I'd never dream of wasting time watering my extensive collection of weeds/wildflowers. Saving the water for my whisky - only a little drop, mind.

standardg60

Just enough to stave off the hangover and be able to pee on the lawn.

tvjunki

standardg60 wrote: »

I'd love to know what happens to the run off water too, I have separate drains for the house and gutters but certainly in Dublin most of the older houses run into the same one and more often than not the sink /washing machine pipe is directed into the gutter downpipe drain so it's probably impossible to do anything other than dump it.

It does not have to be dumped. It can be processed and recycled. The building reg can change to say new estates run off water must go into the waste system. You think of it in the U.K. All run off water as well as waste water is used and recycled clean.

I don't know what you can do the existing systems but it could pipe all the water into the foul water. It will be costly but at least it will stop waste.

magicbastarder

that sounds like a very, *very* costly way of going about it. piping storm drains into foul, fouls the storm water and means it would *have* to be treated; regardless of whether it's intended for consumption again.

hkjohn

The thing I find really distasteful is the Stasi-style tactics IW have adopted by setting up a hotline so sneaks can inform on their errant neighbours.

Are Irish people capable of such nastiness? I remember when I got a temporary job working in the DHSS in Coventry many years ago. I and the rest of the lads were put in charge of opening letters from people informing on benefit cheats/people they didn't like. We routinely used to rip many of the more mean-minded letters up.

While a hotline will stop letters being ripped up, why stop there? Why not set up a Water Youth movement in schools where kids could denounce their parents who would then be tarred and feathered as a lesson to other offenders.

FWIW, I live in Roscommon where we have so much water falling from the skies each winter and spring, the H20-starved jackeens up in Dublin are apparently trying to claim the River Shannon as their own.

LirW

hkjohn wrote: »

Are Irish people capable of such nastiness?

Well, the problem is that this should involve all people working together, yet some clearly see themselves as entitled enough to not obey the rules that are better for everyone, especially in times of drought.
Why should one party clearly follow the rules and bend over backwards to conserve water as well as they are able to, while the neighbour fills up their new Lidl pool for his little brats? These people ruin it for everyone.
Some people simply don't care and go on with their day like there's nothing wrong and these people only feel it when it hits them in their wallet.

I think it really depends on how it happens? My neighbour watering her few flowers once a week with a hose? Don't care. Neighbour fills a huge pool, hoses their car down every second day and waters their front garden with hose every day? Now that would bother me when I'm conserving water where I can.

theyoungchap

What we have been doing.

Empty the kettle for new water, washing veg, wanting a fresh glass of water = into the basin -> into mop bucket -> onto the garden late at night.

Toilet - if its yellow its mellow, if its brown flush it down.

Give the garden 5-6 watering cans of water every 2nd night - just enough to stop everything dying. The grass will be fine, it is yellow and will be grand.

If I seen my neighbour filling a paddling pool I would have no problem ringing IW. Just like if I thought he was a dole cheat I would have no problem ringing DEASP.

It is funny that the only time there was a drop in water consumption in this country was when people thought they were going to be paying per consumption.

Maybe, just maybe, at some point we might have a sensible discussion about how much a litre of water costs to be made drinkable and how much the excess (and leaks, etc) use costs us tax payers. But some will just never let things get beyond political opportunism to that point.

xboxdad

standardg60 wrote: »

The fact it's growing means the turf has already rooted so you're past the critical point of danger. I wouldn't bother with a sprinkler now (or at any time really) as a lot of the water is lost to evaporation or simply misses the area.

You're way better off to lay the bare hose directly on the lawn, let it soak for a couple of minutes and then move to another area. The edges will be most particularly at risk. This way you'll only need to use a hose for ten minutes.

Obviously this is only in the case of newly turfed lawns where there's great expense gone to.

Thank you! Is it just a regular hose with no end piece attached that I should lay on the grass or I should get one of those soaker hoses for the job?

theyoungchap

xboxdad wrote: »

Thank you! Is it just a regular hose with no end piece attached that I should lay on the grass or I should get one of those soaker hoses for the job?

What bit of the current hose pipe ban don't you understand? Your grass will be fine once it rains. Stop wasting water on it.

harr

I just emptied out the paddle pool and no I won’t be refilling with a hose.. but the ground was so hard the water barely penetrated it , it kind of just sat on top and evaporated. 10 minutes later lawn done dry. It going to take more than a few showers of rain to bring everything back to life again..

theyoungchap

harr wrote: »

I just emptied out the paddle pool and no I won’t be refilling with a hose.. but the ground was so hard the water barely penetrated it , it kind of just sat on top and evaporated. 10 minutes later lawn done dry. It going to take more than a few showers of rain to bring everything back to life again..

Why didn't you do it tonight when it was getting dark/cooler? Of course it'll evaporate at 11am.......

harr

theyoungchap wrote: »

Why didn't you do it tonight when it was getting dark/cooler? Of course it'll evaporate at 11am.......

Wasn’t really emptied out to water garden I was just tidying up the garden...just surprised at the lack of soakage..

iguana

theyoungchap wrote: »

If I seen my neighbour filling a paddling pool I would have no problem ringing IW. Just like if I thought he was a dole cheat I would have no problem ringing DEASP.

I have two paddling pools. A larger 10ft one that I haven't used this year and a small one that is the lid off the sand box, that I have used this year. The small one holds less water than my bath and I fill it about a third of the way up for my son to use to cool during the day. He uses the water in that for about 4 days using a lot less water than the baths or showers he'd be having every evening as he's hot and filthy by the end of every day. Once the water needs to be replaced I leave it uncovered on the lawn so my neighbours ducks can come in for a splash about (which is the most insanely cute thing ever). Then I use the water for my plants and fruit trees. I wash out the pool with a basin of used wash-up water and empty that too into my plants. In the meantime any plants I have in smaller pots with holes in the bottom are sitting permanently in the bath which is keeping them alive on minimal water.

The same water gets used repeatedly and it's a lot easier for me to use the paddling pool water for my plants than it is to use bathwater. No matter how hard I try I'm not going to be able to get all the water from the bath to the garden, whereas it's simple to ensure every last drop gets used efficiently from the pool. And the plants in the bath aren't going to be able to stay there when I go back to needing the bath for my son. And no, they won't come close to fitting in the paddling pool to use that instead, I've checked. So in the coming days, when my area is likely included in the hosepipe ban, I will inevitably use more water rather than less and the poor ducks won't get a chance to cool down. 3 watering cans will be enough for the paddling pool but I don't want Irish Water to come knocking on my door because some eejit who likely uses more water in a day than I do in a week reports me.

Wheety

cbreeze wrote: »

There is one glorious green garden in my street and all the others are yellow. Hmmm!

Is it fake grass?

NickNickleby

I'm assuming there's some gardeners on here:pac:

After washing the veggies in water. When doing the cabbage I always add some salt to the water, to help clean it of anything I don't want to eat - occasionally I'll get a creepy crawley or flies out.

So today, being the dutiful citizen I recovered the water from the sink instead of pulling the plug, then poured it onto : Hebe (spelling?) Lavender and Fuschia. Went back for the dregs using a glass, and thought "why not drink it? Ah wait, sure there's salt in it. Arrghhh, there's SALT in it ".

Given that only yesterday the real gardener of the house ie. She Who Must Be Obeyed, said how lovely the lavender and hebes are, I'm just a little concerned. should I start packing now? It was about half a sink of water (say 1 gallon) and less than 1 tablespoon of salt. How much less I can't say.

garv123

Does the hosepipe plan apply to a private well?

theyoungchap

garv123 wrote: »

Does the hosepipe plan apply to a private well?

No, but you'd probably be well advised to adhere to it unless you want to end up with no water....

garv123

theyoungchap wrote: »

No, but you'd probably be well advised to adhere to it unless you want to end up with no water....

Have nothing to use the water on outside anyway

Havent cut the grass in 2 weeks and its looking healthier than ever, the weeds are struggling tho

theyoungchap

garv123 wrote: »

Have nothing to use the water on outside anyway
Havent cut the grass in 2 weeks and its looking healthier than ever, the weeds are struggling tho

Lucky you, our weeds are thriving and our grass is non-existant!!

Zzippy

So, they've extended it nationwide, which now affects us. I've a drip irrigation system in the polytunnel, which is fed by hose from the mains tap. Technically I shouldn't be using it, but there's no way I'm going to start using watering cans from the tap, which would be far more wasteful, far more time consuming, and far less beneficial to the plants. Currently they get exactly the right amount of water delivered straight to the roots, with zero waste.

magicbastarder

i live in a suburban semi-d with a garage on the side - a probably 4 inch thick flat concrete roof on the garage. a friend was telling me his neighbour, living in a similar build, has a 500l IBC tank on the garage roof collecting from the downpipe. i've considered similar myself but as they're translucent, was wondering about algal growth.
you'd get a decent pressure from one that's 8 foot higher than the garden too.

i like to think you could get 5 or 6 people standing in one spot on the roof without it collapsing, whether that's a load you'd be able to leave there permanently is another matter.

my3cents

Zzippy wrote: »

So, they've extended it nationwide, which now affects us. I've a drip irrigation system in the polytunnel, which is fed by hose from the mains tap. Technically I shouldn't be using it, but there's no way I'm going to start using watering cans from the tap, which would be far more wasteful, far more time consuming, and far less beneficial to the plants. Currently they get exactly the right amount of water delivered straight to the roots, with zero waste.

From Friday morning a 8am so still more than a full day the hoses are still legal in many areas.

LirW

I'm continuing watering my plants with the can and for the baskets I got a small bucket in Dealz that I fill with water, soak each basket in it for 30 minutes and use the water then for other plants. They're doing pretty well.

Neighbour is washing their dog kennel every evening with the hose to wash all the p1ss and poop out :rolleyes: Not sure if they'll stop that during the hose ban but they could think of bringing their dog out a bit more. Anyway, not my business.

I'm growing all my stuff in the greenhouse in pots so they'll just get watered efficiently enough to get them through the heat.

my3cents

Zzippy wrote: »

So, they've extended it nationwide, which now affects us. I've a drip irrigation system in the polytunnel, which is fed by hose from the mains tap. Technically I shouldn't be using it, but there's no way I'm going to start using watering cans from the tap, which would be far more wasteful, far more time consuming, and far less beneficial to the plants. Currently they get exactly the right amount of water delivered straight to the roots, with zero waste.

So how about doing what I plan to do. Change the hose over to proper water pipe so its plumbed it then bury the pipe.

In my case I'm going to add at least two more outside taps so I don't have as far to carry watering cans.

Zzippy

my3cents wrote: »

From Friday morning a 8am so still more than a full day the hoses are still legal in many areas.

Yes, sorry, I meant we're included from Friday on.

my3cents wrote: »

So how about doing what I plan to do. Change the hose over to proper water pipe so its plumbed it then bury the pipe.

In my case I'm going to add at least two more outside taps so I don't have as far to carry watering cans.

The hose is already pretty much buried, the only exposed bit is a couple of feet from the tap to where it enters the polytunnel underground. For the sake of a short-term ban it's not worth the hassle of plumbing it in. Also I have a timer connected to the tap and onto the hose, which would be awkward to fit into a plumbed pipe. The timer also ensures water is not wasted and the plants get only what they need.

TomOnBoard

Zzippy wrote: »

So, they've extended it nationwide, which now affects us. I've a drip irrigation system in the polytunnel, which is fed by hose from the mains tap. Technically I shouldn't be using it, but there's no way I'm going to start using watering cans from the tap, which would be far more wasteful, far more time consuming, and far less beneficial to the plants. Currently they get exactly the right amount of water delivered straight to the roots, with zero waste.

How much water are you using is the issue.

To my mind, you're using a length of hosepipe within a plumbed well-managed irrigation system. An uncontrolled open- ended 1/2" hose pipe delivering water at mains pressure is the issue that Irish Water are trying to deal with.

If you have your drippers properly regulated, I don't see the issue, assuming your system is properly set up.