Hosepipe Ban

[.....]

As you probably know us Southerners are facing a hosepipe ban.

Now this is due to start on 3rd April in the area I live in and will be a bit of a pain because I want to use a hose to wash my bike with

But after having a look at the Thames Water FAQ page about the ban, there is no mention of not being allowed to wash your motorbike using a hose.

Now I would have thought they would have said something along the lines of "You must not use your hosepipe to wash your motor vehicle". Instead, they have specifically mentioned cars and caravans.

[zaknafien]

[WildGoose]

annoys me things like this, when thames water freely admit when questioned how much water is being wasted/lost at their responsibility

yes the water reservoirs and general storage infrastructure is very old, and they claim to be throwing money at it in ridiculous amounts

but something needs to be done on their part, instead of fining us for extra money to sort their problems out
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[syl]

[.....]

I read somewhere that one third of water is lost in the pipe network due to leaks. Surely they should have to fix this problem before punishing us.

I expect the water watchdog is typically useless in this case.

[Andy C]

i dont use the hose much anyways so will carry on cleaning the bike i think, as long as i dont take the p*ss i think it will be ok

And doing a MASSIVE clean using lots of water 2nd april
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99 RS125 --> 02 SV650s --> 03 Speed Four --> 92 RXS100 --> 93 CB400sf --> 01 CB600f Hornet

[Kickstart]

Hi

Thames Water loose 915 million litres of water a day through leaks and the like.

To further throw salt on the wounds. Thames Water are owned by the German company RWE who are trying to sell them at the moment.

All the best

Keith
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[NSR125-Kid-UK]

Very valid point!

Thames sources make no mention of motorcycles at all, even if they do include caravans and trailers on the hosepipe ban .

A bit random .

Welcome back siggi!
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[Dan 4RR]

[DucatiEVO]

I have to use a bucket anyway so that's cool!

Still for what they charge me, I'll use it ban or not!
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[DAF]

AndyC wrote

[Rookie]

[yambabe]

Good heavens. Most of my garden is under about 3 inches of water at the moment, has been for at least a week.

Tell you what, no need for a hosepipe ban.

Just invite me down for the weekend, you'll have more rain than you have seen fot the last 10 years (except the weekend I rode to Kent last year ) and your reservoirs will be full to bursting!
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[Ted]

I work in a garden nursery... we need water for growing our produce... so we are exempt from bans...

Therefore... I think I might be driving my car into one of the greenhouses and washing it in there, as with my bike!

Higher-power hoses too!

[invalid]

For your information there are huge holes in the hosepipe ban rules.

No point butting heads with them as some people say they will because if you simply defy the ban someone will report you and you will be fined.
Ive seen two hosepipe patrols vans on the streets this morning in Merton when they came into our carpark to get issued with some mobile comms devices, so they are serious about it (the cynical would say serious about making money from it...).

Simply read the rules carefully and play them at thier own game.

I dont know the technicalities of what will be in place if they impose the ban of all non essential use of water.
However under the current hosepip ban:

You MAY use a high pressure washer (jet wash) to clean a driveway or pathway and to clean heavy dirt from a motor vehicle. There is no limit on how much you can do this.

You MAY use a hosepipe to wash a dog. There is no limit on how much you can do this.

Unless the total ban comes into place:
I will be washing my dog on the lawn (possibly close to the flower borders) maybe twice a week throughout the summer, or possibly more depending on how dirty the dog gets when I walk her, and to wash the salt out of her fur when shes been on th beach.

And I will be cleaning my diveway and my garden path regularly with the pressure washer to fight 'that awful moss that just keeps coming back'. Strangely my car will also be very muddy at this point so Ill kill two birds with one stone and wash the heavy mud from the car at the same time.
If my bike is on the drive when I clean it, it may get a bit wet from the spray.

And I will still be abiding by the rules of the hosepipe ban and not leaving myself open to prosecution unless the current hosepipe laws are reviewed and updated (very unlikely as it will mean an entire parliamentry process) or further restrictions are bought into place (very possible).

Just play the game guys.
Read the rules, use your heads and play the game..

[feef]

the problem is that deman is outstripping supply... even taking into account leaks which actually go back into the water-table and just form a bit of a loop in the system... leaks increase how much we pay as the pumping in inefficient, however, the leaks don't contribute to the poor supplies.

we consume water from the reservoirs and groundwater, we use it, and flush/drain it, where it goes into sewers, is treated and then flush (most of) it out to sea. The water table in the underlying rock strata just isn't being replenished by the rain, and to compound the problem, we have housing and development.

development of land is a twofold problem. 1: the usage increases, but 2: the development is usualy concrete/tarmac/buildings which then prevents the rain soaking into the ground, andrun off into storm drains and then into rivers.. for each sq meter of house or road we have, that's one sq meter less we have ro rain-water going into our water supply.

we can't drill wells (as I've heard some misguided people talk about) as the water just isn't in the ground any more.

one alternative woud be to dam some more rivers, to try and capture some of this increased run-off, but can you imagine anyone wanting to lose their house cos we need another reservoir?

a
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[innominate]

Just wait a few years.


London will be under the North Sea.
Water shortages solved
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[JonB]

Bit of a crisis in the SE I see, fortunately the SW gets loads of rain so we have adaquate supplies for this year at least. Wessex Water are actually very good in my opinion. 5 years ago they completely replaced EVERY victorian water supply and now the whole town (12,000 population) is now using modern blue piping and now there is never a leak in town.
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[Barney]

I only caught the end of a disscussion today on BBC radio 2, but apparently you will be able to use the hose to fill up a swimming pool, but not water the plants 2 metres away from it.

What the hell?

I reckon you will get away with using the hose on the bike Joe.
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[Dan 4RR]

[Major_Grooves]

I just read the Times today where it specifically said you can use a hose to clean a motorbike, but not a car.
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[syl]

[m99dws]

I have friends who are firemen and have vintage fire engines. They just fill up on site and roll home with a few thousand litres to help themselves with.

[DAF]

I just called Thames Water for advice on the ban given that bikes aren't specifically mentioned in the banned list on their website. The answer was yes, the ban also covers motorbikes BUT the woman said there's nothing wrong with someone using a pressure hose/ washer to wash their bike, car, drieveway or whatever. I pointed out that a pressure washer will surely use more water than a standard hose and she agreed it didn't make much sense but these are the directives as laid out by OFWAT apparently. Crazy, huh?

Who's for a pressure washer then? About £50 for a cheapo You'd have to be careful with seals, clocks etc though

https://www.cleanstore.co.uk/products/productslistSub.asp?Main=Cleaning%20Machines&sub=Pressure%20Washers
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[feef]