Don’t get fined if a hosepipe ban comes into effect.
There has been a huge pressure on water supplies, brought on by the very hot weather we’ve had throughout June & into July. United Utilities say they are putting a hosepipe ban in place from August 5th unless there is a significant change in the weather and we get some rainfall. The company is responsible for the majority of the water supplies in the north west of England and whilst there is an argument that they should invest in more reservoirs, sorting leaks & not filling their own pockets quite as much to avoid situations like this, the point is, if a hosepipe ban comes into play, you could be fined £1000 if you use yours.
It seems daft to me that they announce that a potential hosepipe ban would come into effect two or three weeks before the ban takes place, especially as they said one was ‘imminent’ about a month ago. A month, to me, isn’t ‘imminent’.
All this advanced warning does is lets people use their hosepipes for a number of weeks. Washing their car, watering their garden and other things with the hosepipe. Surely, if you want to stop the use of water in this manner, don’t give a warning, just put a ban in place?
Anyway, don’t use your hosepipe if there is a ban, it’s not worth the potential fine.
Saving water is no bad thing. Simple changes like turning the tap off when you brush your teeth, putting a jug of water in the fridge instead of running the tap to get cold water to drink and using a bucket and sponge to wash your car instead of the hosepipe with a brush attachment, will help to save water. Lawns will come back and be green, flowers will regrow, but you don’t want to be £1000 down and worry about water for drinking, or having to head to the shops for bottled water.
