is it OK to run 1,000 litres of tap water per hour on garden in full sun

[fl0wer]

We haven't had a hosepipe ban yet. So what does the panel think about this way of using up the wet winter's reservoir supplies?

Should we encourage all gardeners to do their watering at dawn or dusk, as TW suggests?

How to frame such a request, so that it gets across positively?

Some people refuse to curb wastefulness until a regulation is imposed on them.

Not convinced this is the best way to achieve wiser use of resources, am interested in a non-regulatory approach.

[Pugwash]

gardening programmes have confirmed that using cool washing up water or bath water is ok to put on plants. We keep a bucket by the back door and tip in the WU water if it is not too greasy

[Drxyster]

Certainly not, especially, if like me you have a water meter.

We had to have a new water main installed a couple of years ago and Thames Water insisted on fitting a water meter.

Since then our water bills have more than doubled.

[polla2256]

Some once told me there was no such thing as a stupid question. I did believe this until I found this thread.

[Saffron]

fl0wer Wrote:

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> We haven't had a hosepipe ban yet. So what does

> the panel think about this way of using up the wet

> winter's reservoir supplies?

> Should we encourage all gardeners to do their

> watering at dawn or dusk, as TW suggests?

> How to frame such a request, so that it gets

> across positively?

> Some people refuse to curb wastefulness until a

> regulation is imposed on them.

> Not convinced this is the best way to achieve

> wiser use of resources, am interested in a

> non-regulatory approach.

Well, it seems the answer is in the question. You're interested in non-regulatory approaches, but you admit that some individuals will not bring their over-usage under control until regulations are imposed on them.

So, what's wrong with imposing regulations? If universally installing water meters leads to universally unacceptably high bills, then either everyone is using too much water, or we're being over-charged (or both).

In highly developed areas where water is at a premium (eg, California or Texas), it's quite common to have both water meters and public service campaigns offering advice on saving water. Also, local governments may offer guidelines or even laws about water consumption (eg, only using hosepipes on certain days etc). In the private sector there is an economic drive for water-saving devices, so these become cheaper with more options available too.

Are you not interested in regulations because you believe the government would not install/enforce them? Hence just looking for community/civic ways to teach good water usage?

[fl0wer]

Yesterday nearby, 3 hours of hosepipe watering took place, all the time on a garden fully lit by sunshine. That would be 3,000 litre bottles of drinking water. The rest of the day, when it was shady and the ground & plants could have benefitted from the water, the hosepipe went back in the shed. The hired gardener in charge knows that watering's hardly absorbed in hot sun, because polite conversation took place about it last week. As good neighbours we could help the [disabled] householder if they'd let us do the watering at another time of day, an offer that is still open although not taken up yet. I think there's probably no water meter - along this terrace our buildings have old hidden pipework and TW can't install them.

So I posted to see if anyone on the forum has any suggestions.

It seems one the best ways for a thing to alter is through change of what's considered acceptable, public opinion [- witness what happened to the fashion for real fur coats].

But in green matters, such as water conservation, there's a complex set of expectations. We saw so much rainfall this spring the reservoirs must have filled up, we say. Many people reason that once the high rates are paid, they've actually bought a right to limitless supplies. Lots of us in the UK enjoy frequent baths, generous powershowers & washing machines, rituals of jet cleaning the car and patio - and sprinkling lawns with pure water through a noonday heatwave delighting that there's no hosepipe ban.

[JohnL]

It's going to rain for the rest of the summer

The jet stream has moved - we all knew it :)

I'm on a water meter - but don't consciously limit water - not extravagant with it either.

[Burbage]

JohnL Wrote:

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> I'm on a water meter - but don't consciously limit

> water - not extravagant with it either.

A lot of people are now, and that's fine. I have no objection to people 'wasting' water if they're paying for it, and besides, we're in the wrong part of the world for 'drought' to mean very much. I know the water companies make a big deal of it, but that's only because the alternative is fixing leaks or mending reservoirs, and they're not too fond of either, except as an excuse to hoist the charges.

Excessive watering isn't entirely neutral, admittedly. It can, like a leaky water pipe, provoke the roots of street trees into committing sins of subsidence. But that's rare, tends to be very local, and street trees are usually managed well-enough for size not to be much of a problem.