NW Hose Pipe Ban
- Thread starter RX-78
- Start date
Mr Whippy said:
Actually it could still be illegal and you if reported/caught could be prosecuted. The restriction generally is on the use of the hosepipe not the supply of water.
There are documented cases of people being fined for syphoning old bath water in a hose onto their garden.
Sanity ought to reign but it doesn't always.
While hosepipe bans probably don't save much aside the gardner who leaves irrigation systems running for hours, they make more of a political statement to save water.
pvr - you could be right - a new act came out in April 2010 and here's a quick reference to it.
Just glad I have no hose ban around here and can wash and water at will. but good to see it can still be used to mix concrete or recreational use, or jetwash a path, but not the car...
But what does a hosepipe ban really mean? Is it now a civil offence to use one?
Thanks to the drought laws, the answer is no. Even under a hosepipe ban there are still lots of permitted hosepipe uses. Of course, you aren’t allowed to water the garden with one, or to wash the car but here are just a few of the things you can do:
•Use a hose or pressure washer to clean paths, patios, boats, windows, garden furniture, barbecues and much else which is neither garden nor car
•Use a hose to fill ponds, paddling pools, swimming pools and other containers
•Use a hose to wash down pets, horses – or with a spray head to take showers outdoors
•Use a hose with a backflow prevention valve to fill livestock drinking troughs
•Use a hose to put out a fire
•Use a hose to mix cement or for any other DIY job
•Use a hose for childrens’ play
So why is it possible to fill a swimming pool but not to water the vegetables that put food on the dinner table?
Well, don’t blame it on the water companies. They can only enforce the law – which dates back almost half a century to a time when pressure washers and much else hadn’t been invented. However, no water supplier should be giving the false impression that all hosepipe uses are prohibited.
The good news is that new legislation was passed in April this year to bring hosepipe bans up to date. It’s the Flood & Water Management Act 2010 and instead of offering just two prohibition options, it lists a number of sensible restrictions that a water company can impose – although it is not obliged to impose any of them.
And in what should be better news for gardeners, it gives water companies new discretionary powers to grant exemptions from hosepipe bans, for example to the elderly or infirm, to certain types of water-saving irrigation equipment such as drip irrigation systems and even to allow night-time watering during a hosepipe restriction.
The new Act includes the following precise wording:
“A water undertaker need not ban a specified use of water entirely. It may limit the scope of a ban by, for example, excluding specified groups of customers and apparatus and restricting the use of water at specified times only.”
If that sounds more like the civilised society that you thought we lived in, don’t get too excited. The new law, which the policy makers and regulators have been working on since the 2006 drought in the south of England, has still not yet been enshrined in industry regulations so United Utilities can’t use it. Instead, they have to fall back on the old legislation.
But for the record, here is the full list of possible prohibitions from the new Act:
•Watering a garden using a hosepipe;
•Cleaning a private motor-vehicle using a hosepipe;
•Watering plants on domestic or other non-commercial premises using a hosepipe;
•Cleaning a private leisure boat using a hosepipe;
•Filling or maintaining a domestic swimming or paddling pool;
•Drawing water, using a hosepipe, for domestic recreational use;
•Filling or maintaining a domestic pond using a hosepipe;
•Filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain;
•Cleaning walls, or windows, of domestic premises using a hosepipe;
•Cleaning paths or patios using a hosepipe;
•Cleaning other artificial outdoor surfaces using a hosepipe.
A water company seeking to impose a hosepipe ban can elect to prohibit one or more of these specific uses but cannot prohibit any use not on this list. So even if all the options are enforced, there will still be a number of hosepipe uses which cannot be banned.
Just glad I have no hose ban around here and can wash and water at will. but good to see it can still be used to mix concrete or recreational use, or jetwash a path, but not the car...
But what does a hosepipe ban really mean? Is it now a civil offence to use one?
Thanks to the drought laws, the answer is no. Even under a hosepipe ban there are still lots of permitted hosepipe uses. Of course, you aren’t allowed to water the garden with one, or to wash the car but here are just a few of the things you can do:
•Use a hose or pressure washer to clean paths, patios, boats, windows, garden furniture, barbecues and much else which is neither garden nor car
•Use a hose to fill ponds, paddling pools, swimming pools and other containers
•Use a hose to wash down pets, horses – or with a spray head to take showers outdoors
•Use a hose with a backflow prevention valve to fill livestock drinking troughs
•Use a hose to put out a fire
•Use a hose to mix cement or for any other DIY job
•Use a hose for childrens’ play
So why is it possible to fill a swimming pool but not to water the vegetables that put food on the dinner table?
Well, don’t blame it on the water companies. They can only enforce the law – which dates back almost half a century to a time when pressure washers and much else hadn’t been invented. However, no water supplier should be giving the false impression that all hosepipe uses are prohibited.
The good news is that new legislation was passed in April this year to bring hosepipe bans up to date. It’s the Flood & Water Management Act 2010 and instead of offering just two prohibition options, it lists a number of sensible restrictions that a water company can impose – although it is not obliged to impose any of them.
And in what should be better news for gardeners, it gives water companies new discretionary powers to grant exemptions from hosepipe bans, for example to the elderly or infirm, to certain types of water-saving irrigation equipment such as drip irrigation systems and even to allow night-time watering during a hosepipe restriction.
The new Act includes the following precise wording:
“A water undertaker need not ban a specified use of water entirely. It may limit the scope of a ban by, for example, excluding specified groups of customers and apparatus and restricting the use of water at specified times only.”
If that sounds more like the civilised society that you thought we lived in, don’t get too excited. The new law, which the policy makers and regulators have been working on since the 2006 drought in the south of England, has still not yet been enshrined in industry regulations so United Utilities can’t use it. Instead, they have to fall back on the old legislation.
But for the record, here is the full list of possible prohibitions from the new Act:
•Watering a garden using a hosepipe;
•Cleaning a private motor-vehicle using a hosepipe;
•Watering plants on domestic or other non-commercial premises using a hosepipe;
•Cleaning a private leisure boat using a hosepipe;
•Filling or maintaining a domestic swimming or paddling pool;
•Drawing water, using a hosepipe, for domestic recreational use;
•Filling or maintaining a domestic pond using a hosepipe;
•Filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain;
•Cleaning walls, or windows, of domestic premises using a hosepipe;
•Cleaning paths or patios using a hosepipe;
•Cleaning other artificial outdoor surfaces using a hosepipe.
A water company seeking to impose a hosepipe ban can elect to prohibit one or more of these specific uses but cannot prohibit any use not on this list. So even if all the options are enforced, there will still be a number of hosepipe uses which cannot be banned.
Also - just outside Preston there are numerous resevoirs which are full , it was reported in the local paper that the water though is un-usable as drinking water due to the filtration systems etc. not being maintained over the years. There have also been a number of resevoirs filled in !
Perhaps the big profits / bonus could have been pumped (no pun inteneded) back into upgrading equipment - just a simple thought.
Anyway the Zed is quite small so an army of watering cans ready and away we go.
Perhaps the big profits / bonus could have been pumped (no pun inteneded) back into upgrading equipment - just a simple thought.
Anyway the Zed is quite small so an army of watering cans ready and away we go.
Just put water meters everywhere, will save more then any ban ever would. Only country in the world I think that has a chargeable supply of goods without a means to measure the quantity taken.
It would be a bit odd that you can have a fixed charge for electricity or gas, so why is water "free" for some in any quantity?
It would be a bit odd that you can have a fixed charge for electricity or gas, so why is water "free" for some in any quantity?
