Every time we have more than five days hot weather l see reports
of various municipalities being unable to supply water through the
pipes??
Are we running out of water?
Or have we got too many new water users connected to the same
pipes that used to supply half the amount of users they do now?
If it is the latter, then l hope the thousands of new houses Boris has
promised will have their own supply pipes connected directly
to the dam and not be just added onto the end of the existing
network?
I can only speak for this region Donkeyman, but they were saying on the news a few days ago, that there is plenty of water still in the reservoirs, it is just that with so many people at home - kids off school, and adults off work, then this hot weather as well and many more baths, showers, and washing machines being used, that too many people are using it at the same time and the supply is not getting through the pipes.
It sounded like there is enough water (at the mo), but the water authorities canât get it to the customers all at once.
They said with many more people holidaying on their âStaycationsâ here as well, it is making it even worse.
I agree with what you say about more and more new houses being build though. Where will all the water come from?
One question if I may . . . when you see bottled water in shops with an expiry date of a couple of years on it, how do they do that? Why doesnât it go off, or go green or something?
Has it preservatives added?
We are an island for goodness sake - surrounded by water. Why donât âtheyâ do something useful for a change and build a couple of desalination plants - or is that too logical?
What should be done is, save the water that we get when we get floods. Divert it from rivers into reservoirs, which could double as wildfowl, fishing or in land beach/water parks or build underground reservoirs. . That would solve two problems. No flooding and no shortage, simples
YesMups, l also believe we have plenty of water usually.
But this is an old country with old infrastructure that was installed
when population was low and demand was much less,so the pipes
used were skinny pipes that were adequate for the times, but it
seems that aspopulation rose anr more houses were built we didnt
put new larger pipes in, being btitish we just connected the new
reticulation systems onto the old skinny pipes hoping people would
not all use water at the same time??
This can be rectified by installing new larger pipes to the dams and
then cross connecting these to the newer developments!
But unfortunately as Swimmy says, we privatised our water supplies
and some of the new owners are indeed european and are
disinclined to invest in doing this due to profit pressures?
Privatisation was a big mistake when applied to essential services
such as water imo??
There is considerable controversy right across the EU concerning
the privatisation of public water supplies and the resulting price
rises etc!!
There is a very simple answer to the common water problem Donks and that is install a water meter to every connected private home just like all commercial/industrial clients have installed.
I had one fitted about 5yrs ago and by being purposefully aware of what was used and why, my bills were cut by a considerable amount:-D When connected households become aware of how much water is consumed and/or unnecessarily wasted, every household member remembers this every time they head off to the taps etc and thus the demand on the whole water supply system is reduced by an amazing amount:cool:
Yes l had a meter installed last year LongDriver for tha reason!
But as we are water aware i our house allready ou bills onlyndropped
bynabout 10%!
I found our biggest saving was by stopping my son from taking
bathsll
Part of the problem lies in new build houses. It would be relatively simple for storage tanks to be constructed at the time of building. Or even one big tank. Every house on the estate would be connected to this tank. From those dwellings would flow all the grey water from every kitchen sink and bathroom and from all the roofs. This water can then be utilised by turning on the garden tap in each house when watering gardens. Would it not be possible to legislate for all new builds to have something like this? Water butts alone are not good enough - if it doesnât rain thereâs no water.
Here in the UK we have some of the best quality tap water in the world. Yet, we waste so much of it on gardening.
Grey water tanks are simple to install takahashi as a retro fit? even in
small gardens, all you need is a hole, atank, a small electric pump
and a bit of rainwater pipe for the waste water!
Im no sure about municipal regulations though??
I know rainwater tanks werent allowed in towns afew years ago for
some reason? Allthough it seems ok now!
Actually, many domestic properties already have meters. The house where we moved recently had the main on the pathway which was convenient for their stopcock.
On this one is outside our front gate.
I donât know where yours is located.
Sure, but I mentioned new builds simply because it would be a good starting point. No excuse not to install them because of space constrictions etc. Also, the whole system is an easy install for builders during construction adding very little to costs, whereas, a 70 year old living in an old Victorian terraced dwelling just wonât bother as thereâs very little incentive.*
Yes, I am on metered water too, and the meter is down on the footpath.
I read it myself and send the reading in every quarter to keep my bills accurate.
Besoeker is correct. To build a desalination plant is really only financially viable in desert regions like Saudi Arabia. In any case, do you really want to drink water that still tastes a little salty?
Every time we get a drought they turn on the desal plant and a few cents is added to our water bill, it then rains and the dams fill up so the desal is turned off for a few years.
The Pricing commission has now approved a new pricing regime. From 1 July 2020 the price of water will depend on dam levels. While dam levels are above 60%, the price is $2.35 per kilolitre but if dam levels fall below 60%, this price will rise to $3.18 per kilolitre.
The standing charge has been reduced so the water bills have been reduced while the dams are above 60%.
During the millennium drought the price of water was 98c a kilolitre
I have 5000litres of tank water on my property collected from the roof of my house, rarely use it.
A big problem in this country is the âYuckâ factor, unlike Europe, people will not accept recycled water it can only be used in industrial settings. God knows how many mega litres of storm water just gets dumped into the sea every time it rains - again unlike Europe our storm water and sewerage are kept separate.
I dont know about europe Brucy, but uk also keeps sewage and
stormwater seperate!
l am surprised that you dont use your rainwater to water your garden!
From your photos your grass sometimes looks a bit dessicated??
What do you use your rain water for then??
If you dont want to drink it, you could use it to flush the looâs !!
If everybody did that it would lessen the demand on the dams?
