It's just been announced by Southern Water that there's going to be a
hosepipe ban ("Temporary Use Ban") from next Friday in Hampshire and the
Isle of Wight:
"We’re asking you to reduce your water use because we need to urgently
reduce the demand on the River Test and River Itchen, which is where
some of your fresh water supply comes from."

Unfortunately, this seems to be a "one size fits all response" from
Southern Water for a serious problem in a limited area (see
<https://www.southernwater.co.uk/water-for-life/groundwater-levels>).
Much of the water for most of Hampshire comes from under the Downs,
where the average levels are not falling (indeed, they appear to be
increasing in Hampshire North). Strangely, the groundwater levels in the
east (Brighton, Worthing, and Thanet) appear to be in a worse state than
those of Hampshire, but so far no drought order has been made for those
areas.

I do wonder about the blanket ban on using a hosepipe to water gardens;
it can't have been drafted by anyone with a knowledge of gardening. I
have no problem with stopping lawns being watered, as even when they've
gone absolutely dry they'll soon recover with the first rains. That is
the opposite to what happens when many established shrubs (or even some
perennials) dry out. They either don't come back at all, or are badly
disfigured for many years. The cost in money and time is far more
substantial than reseeding or getting new turf to replace grass.

Any bets on which areas will be next for a hosepipe ban?

--

Jeff

On Fri, 29 Jul 2022 12:32:40 +0100, Jeff Layman wrote:

> It's just been announced by Southern Water that there's going to be a
> hosepipe ban ("Temporary Use Ban") from next Friday in Hampshire and the
> Isle of Wight:
> "We’re asking you to reduce your water use because we need to urgently
> reduce the demand on the River Test and River Itchen, which is where
> some of your fresh water supply comes from."
>
> Unfortunately, this seems to be a "one size fits all response" from
> Southern Water for a serious problem in a limited area (see
> <https://www.southernwater.co.uk/water-for-life/groundwater-levels>).
> Much of the water for most of Hampshire comes from under the Downs,
> where the average levels are not falling (indeed, they appear to be
> increasing in Hampshire North). Strangely, the groundwater levels in the
> east (Brighton, Worthing, and Thanet) appear to be in a worse state than
> those of Hampshire, but so far no drought order has been made for those
> areas.
>
> I do wonder about the blanket ban on using a hosepipe to water gardens;
> it can't have been drafted by anyone with a knowledge of gardening. I
> have no problem with stopping lawns being watered, as even when they've
> gone absolutely dry they'll soon recover with the first rains. That is
> the opposite to what happens when many established shrubs (or even some
> perennials) dry out. They either don't come back at all, or are badly
> disfigured for many years. The cost in money and time is far more
> substantial than reseeding or getting new turf to replace grass.
>
> Any bets on which areas will be next for a hosepipe ban?

Allegedly Suffolk is safe for the moment with adequate water reserves.

I have just cracked, and filled two empty water butts with the hose to let
the treated water breathe for a bit before use.
The forecast shows no significant rain for at least another week, and it
obviously could be longer before the next "proper" rain.

If there was a notice banning use of hose pipes from {future date} I would
probably get our other water containers out and fill them as well.
We have a couple of water butts not currently plumbed in.

North of Nottingham seems to be doing fine with rain - just southern areas
struggling.

Cheers

Dave R

--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

--
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David <wibble@btinternet.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 29 Jul 2022 12:32:40 +0100, Jeff Layman wrote:
>
> >
> > Any bets on which areas will be next for a hosepipe ban?
>
> Allegedly Suffolk is safe for the moment with adequate water reserves.
>
It's *always* dry in East Anglia so a dry period is not usually a
problem.

--
Chris Green
·

Jeff Layman wrote:

> Any bets on which areas will be next for a hosepipe ban?

SevernTrent sent a thankyou text this morning, related to the heatwave days last
week, befre I read it I was half-expecting it to be restrictions ...

On Fri, 29 Jul 2022 14:29:41 +0100, Chris Green wrote:

> David <wibble@btinternet.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, 29 Jul 2022 12:32:40 +0100, Jeff Layman wrote:
>>
>>
>> > Any bets on which areas will be next for a hosepipe ban?
>>
>> Allegedly Suffolk is safe for the moment with adequate water reserves.
>>
> It's *always* dry in East Anglia so a dry period is not usually a
> problem.

:-)

Mind you last year at least we didn't have the brown and crispy lawns we
have this year, so it is nearly always dry.

Cheers

Dave R

--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

--
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On 29/07/2022 12:32, Jeff Layman wrote:
> It's just been announced by Southern Water that there's going to be a
> hosepipe ban ("Temporary Use Ban") from next Friday in Hampshire and the
> Isle of Wight:
> "We’re asking you to reduce your water use because we need to urgently
> reduce the demand on the River Test and River Itchen, which is where
> some of your fresh water supply comes from."
>
> Unfortunately, this seems to be a "one size fits all response" from
> Southern Water for a serious problem in a limited area (see
> <https://www.southernwater.co.uk/water-for-life/groundwater-levels>).
> Much of the water for most of Hampshire comes from under the  Downs,
> where the average levels are not falling (indeed, they appear to be
> increasing in Hampshire North). Strangely, the groundwater levels in the
> east (Brighton, Worthing, and Thanet) appear to be in a worse state than
> those of Hampshire, but so far no drought order has been made for those
> areas.
>
> I do wonder about the blanket ban on using a hosepipe to water gardens;
> it can't have been drafted by anyone with a knowledge of gardening. I
> have no problem with stopping lawns being watered, as even when they've
> gone absolutely dry they'll soon recover with the first rains. That is
> the opposite to what happens when many established shrubs (or even some
> perennials) dry out. They either don't come back at all, or are badly
> disfigured for many years. The cost in money and time is far more
> substantial than reseeding or getting new turf to replace grass.
>
> Any bets on which areas will be next for a hosepipe ban?

I looked at that too.

Does the IoW really get its water from the mainland?

Andy

On 29/07/2022 21:32, Vir Campestris wrote:
> On 29/07/2022 12:32, Jeff Layman wrote:
>> It's just been announced by Southern Water that there's going to be a
>> hosepipe ban ("Temporary Use Ban") from next Friday in Hampshire and the
>> Isle of Wight:
>> "We’re asking you to reduce your water use because we need to urgently
>> reduce the demand on the River Test and River Itchen, which is where
>> some of your fresh water supply comes from."
>>
>> Unfortunately, this seems to be a "one size fits all response" from
>> Southern Water for a serious problem in a limited area (see
>> <https://www.southernwater.co.uk/water-for-life/groundwater-levels>).
>> Much of the water for most of Hampshire comes from under the  Downs,
>> where the average levels are not falling (indeed, they appear to be
>> increasing in Hampshire North). Strangely, the groundwater levels in the
>> east (Brighton, Worthing, and Thanet) appear to be in a worse state than
>> those of Hampshire, but so far no drought order has been made for those
>> areas.
>>
>> I do wonder about the blanket ban on using a hosepipe to water gardens;
>> it can't have been drafted by anyone with a knowledge of gardening. I
>> have no problem with stopping lawns being watered, as even when they've
>> gone absolutely dry they'll soon recover with the first rains. That is
>> the opposite to what happens when many established shrubs (or even some
>> perennials) dry out. They either don't come back at all, or are badly
>> disfigured for many years. The cost in money and time is far more
>> substantial than reseeding or getting new turf to replace grass.
>>
>> Any bets on which areas will be next for a hosepipe ban?
>
> I looked at that too.
>
> Does the IoW really get its water from the mainland?

Some of it. It has its own groundwater sources and surface water, but
takes some from the Hampshire Southampton West zone (up to 18 million
litres a day). See Figure 2 at
<https://www.southernwater.co.uk/media/7238/12_-reasons_for_the_permit.pdf>.
Also see section 4.1.2.

--

Jeff

On 29/07/2022 12:32, Jeff Layman wrote:

> I do wonder about the blanket ban on using a hosepipe to water gardens;
> it can't have been drafted by anyone with a knowledge of gardening. I
> have no problem with stopping lawns being watered, as even when they've
> gone absolutely dry they'll soon recover with the first rains. That is
> the opposite to what happens when many established shrubs (or even some
> perennials) dry out. They either don't come back at all, or are badly
> disfigured for many years. The cost in money and time is far more
> substantial than reseeding or getting new turf to replace grass.

But it's not a ban on watering plants - just the inefficient use of the
water when using a hosepipe. Yes, a hosepipe is faster and more
convenient but being forced to use a watering can usually mean that
individual plants are watered, and possibly the water penetrates to a
deeper depth of soil. With a hosepipe people are also watering fence
panels and concrete paths.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 30/07/2022 07:54, alan_m wrote:
> On 29/07/2022 12:32, Jeff Layman wrote:
>
>> I do wonder about the blanket ban on using a hosepipe to water gardens;
>> it can't have been drafted by anyone with a knowledge of gardening. I
>> have no problem with stopping lawns being watered, as even when they've
>> gone absolutely dry they'll soon recover with the first rains. That is
>> the opposite to what happens when many established shrubs (or even some
>> perennials) dry out. They either don't come back at all, or are badly
>> disfigured for many years. The cost in money and time is far more
>> substantial than reseeding or getting new turf to replace grass.
>
> But it's not a ban on watering plants - just the inefficient use of the
> water when using a hosepipe. Yes, a hosepipe is faster and more
> convenient but being forced to use a watering can usually mean that
> individual plants are watered, and possibly the water penetrates to a
> deeper depth of soil. With a hosepipe people are also watering fence
> panels and concrete paths.

Not this hosepipe user. I have to water 500+ plants, with many
established shrubs. I know just how much I use as I have a water meter
on the garden tap (to save the wastewater treatment cost; that meter
reading is deducted from the house water meter and the bill adjusted
accordingly). Depending on whether the plants' leaves are drooping are
not, every 4 or 5 days I use approx 1500 - 2000 litres in the 3.5 hours
it takes to water the "garden" (oh, by the way, I don't give a toss
about the lawn. I *never* water it.). That would be at least 150
watering cans equivalent, and carrying 1.5+ tonnes of water a few tens
of metres or so. It's just not feasible. As I said, the legislation was
written by someone who has no idea of gardening, or just lives in a flat
or house with a pocket-sized garden and a dozen plants to water.

Another option is to have our 20m ash and my neighbour's 20m beech cut
down to stop them sucking all the water out of the garden so I wouldn't
need to water so much, but that's probably less environmentally friendly.

Or I could just stop watering entirely and let the thirstiest plants
die. I wonder what the NGS would think if many of its charity-supporting
gardens did that and had to close?

--

Jeff

On Fri, 29 Jul 2022 12:06:00 +0000, David wrote:

> On Fri, 29 Jul 2022 12:32:40 +0100, Jeff Layman wrote:
>
>> It's just been announced by Southern Water that there's going to be a
>> hosepipe ban ("Temporary Use Ban") from next Friday in Hampshire and
>> the Isle of Wight:
>> "We’re asking you to reduce your water use because we need to urgently
>> reduce the demand on the River Test and River Itchen, which is where
>> some of your fresh water supply comes from."
>>
>> Unfortunately, this seems to be a "one size fits all response" from
>> Southern Water for a serious problem in a limited area (see
>> <https://www.southernwater.co.uk/water-for-life/groundwater-levels>).
>> Much of the water for most of Hampshire comes from under the Downs,
>> where the average levels are not falling (indeed, they appear to be
>> increasing in Hampshire North). Strangely, the groundwater levels in
>> the east (Brighton, Worthing, and Thanet) appear to be in a worse state
>> than those of Hampshire, but so far no drought order has been made for
>> those areas.
>>
>> I do wonder about the blanket ban on using a hosepipe to water gardens;
>> it can't have been drafted by anyone with a knowledge of gardening. I
>> have no problem with stopping lawns being watered, as even when they've
>> gone absolutely dry they'll soon recover with the first rains. That is
>> the opposite to what happens when many established shrubs (or even some
>> perennials) dry out. They either don't come back at all, or are badly
>> disfigured for many years. The cost in money and time is far more
>> substantial than reseeding or getting new turf to replace grass.
>>
>> Any bets on which areas will be next for a hosepipe ban?
>
> Allegedly Suffolk is safe for the moment with adequate water reserves.
>
> I have just cracked, and filled two empty water butts with the hose to
> let the treated water breathe for a bit before use.
> The forecast shows no significant rain for at least another week, and it
> obviously could be longer before the next "proper" rain.
>
> If there was a notice banning use of hose pipes from {future date} I
> would probably get our other water containers out and fill them as well.
> We have a couple of water butts not currently plumbed in.
>
> North of Nottingham seems to be doing fine with rain - just southern
> areas struggling.

Noting that now I've filled up the water butts we suddenly have rain
forecast for all of tomorrow.
Light rain, but still water falling from the skies.

Cheers

Dave R

--
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