Hosepipe Ban

I have just been on Severn Trent's website and there is no hose pipe ban for us at the moment

 

John no ban on our area as yet

 

Hosepipe Ban 2018 - Commentary - Hosepipe Ban

26th June:

"Water companies are always advising us to save water (rightly so) and now is no different. But we see no reason to believe there will be any hosepipe bans or water restrictions in the UK during 2018"

 

I've been using grey water for years on shurbs but not on me veg

 

I have been doing the same round the garden for years @Jiffy because if I don’t keep the roots of my Pyracantha hedge watered the berries all shrivel up and die so no food for the birds in winter and my beech hedge drops all its leaves in the Autumn gales as a way to conserve moisture and I don’t get the lovely copper effect through the winter.I use the water from my waterbutt until that runs out but in between I am having to use the hosepipe to water the plants in pots and those that I put out into the borders a couple of months ago

I have resorted though to cutting down on how long I have the water running when I have a shower unlike Mr Kandy who has it running for the whole time (around twenty minutes) he is the under the shower so I am doing my bit to save water

 

I loathe getting the hose out, because the water here is metered, but the water butt has been empty for a couple of weeks now. Mostly I get by with the watering can, but like @Kandy it's the new perennials I put into the borders this year which keep begging for more. Things like polemonium, geum and alchemilla mollis are really struggling with the heat while somewhat to my surprise a new hardy fuchsia (Genii), acer (Orange Dream) are coping much more gracefully. And a new fig tree, strawberry grape vine, and Autumn Bliss raspberry seem to be positively enjoying it.

 

I just received another text from Severn Trent:

Hi, it is Severn Trent Water. The continued hot weather means there has been a huge increase in water consumption in your area. We are pumping an extra 300 million litres of water into supply every day but are also asking customers to be neighbourly and to use water wisely. You can help by turning off garden sprinklers, taking shorter showers instead of baths and not using hoses. Thank you, we really do appreciate your help.

 

Our water comes from under the chalk in the N. Downs, so pretty hard, but it has a long term effect as it takes years to get down there, so it takes years to use it up.
Meaning droughts only happen here after low rainfall for a couple of years, and we have not had that.
Bewel Water, the nearest reservoir, that I believe serves a large chunk of the Brighton area etc. is apparently 90% full, due to them pumping water from the Medway back in Jan/Feb time when the river was running well.

I found this today in the garden, cant remember what it is?
If anyone recognises this, answers on a postcard please.

 

A rain gauge?

 

There's something kind of peaceful watering a garden at 2am anyway here in NI. people looking at my grass is like spotting a cannabis house from the air with an infrared camera...

 

So I can still proceed with my Milk Carton technology then lol
No2 gets me...Commercial GC's presumably can still use their hoses because they are selling you something and the Govt still has to get their tax...so we buy plants that they say we are not allowed to water so they wilt and die..how does that compute.