News

Hosepipe ban could be lifted soon

By Paul Cassell
June 07, 2012

Thames Water announced today that it expects to be able to lift the hosepipe ban sooner than expected.

The utility company said that customers' strong response to the drought combined downpours in April and May easing concerns about groundwater had reduced the strain on resources.

It added that unless there was a very hot summer it may not need to keep the ban in place through to the autumn.

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Most recent user comments 9 of 9

What a complete joke.

Hugh J, Reading
12/06/2012 at 15:07

"I do declare that there appears to be an abscence of excrement Holmes!", exclaimed Dr Watson.

PhunkyPunk, Reading
08/06/2012 at 15:04

Water is free.

Clean water., where you want it, when you want it, isn't.

And who suggested otherwise? Don't tell me things I've already said, because I can remember things I've said...Hell! I'm the one who said them.

Yes, water supplies should be monitored and regulated to protect from overuse, but water isn't free if it is being charged for by the litre.

The water shortage is about a slowdown of supply as opposed to an abnormal spike in demand, so how the hell did we get from a hosepipe ban onto a discussion about water-meters so obediently? Because it's what grates the most; the unquestioned and wholly crap inference that these people are somehow patrons of virtue and temperance, whilst the rest of us are the great Satan - raping the Earth of a dwindling resource- b*****ds who go off to work leaving our taps open, and running car washes from our driveways.

Are water meters a good thing/bad thing? I would say they are an inevitable thing; but for every moral justification put forward for having them. Just don't kid yourselves there won't be some fat old man building a villa on the edge of a golf-course, on the back of it.

~Dangermouse~, Baker Street
08/06/2012 at 10:26

To be honest, if we are going to have a hosepipe ban then it should be enforced and not given this "well we may lift it" dialogue.

Yes, it's been wet, but it has also been very dry for the last few years and if keeping the ban means we won't run the risk of another ban next year, then keep it in place. Or at least lift it for a weekend whilst I fill up the kids pool........

Side Show Bob, Reading
07/06/2012 at 23:12

I've had a water meter for years (since before privatisation) , it's not difficult to live with.

Water is free.

Clean water., where you want it, when you want it, isn't.

Don't get me started on privatised utilities.

I don't believe it!, Peppard
07/06/2012 at 17:28

'Use water?'?

And just who the hell, "uses water"?

You make it sound like it something people can live without.

Did Thames Water invent the product?

Do they own it?

Do they make it rain?

Can it be construed as a luxury item, along with other precious commodities, such as clothing and living indoors?

As far as I am aware, they just clean it and ship it on,something for which, they are already rewarded quite handsomely.

Do you think they are going to behave ethically, when they were finally allowed carte blanche to charge for it by the litre?

Do you think they have demonstrated that they are a fit and proper authority to question moralise it's usage, or even dictate to others, as to what that amount should be?

Monitor usage, certainly; bring the liberty takers to book, by all means.

NEVER,EVER give Thames Water a licence to print money.

~Dangermouse~, Baker Street
07/06/2012 at 17:00

I don't see the point in being told that it might be lifted soon - just tell us when it is lifted.

I do think meters should be compulsory though as we should pay for what we use rather than some pay for what they use and others just use what they want. People don't like spending money, so the best way to conserve water is to have it linked to the bill at the end of the month.

Smiffy, Reading
07/06/2012 at 15:16

What finally tipped the scales, the sight of 4x4's being swept away by raging torrents as they attempted to cross small fords?

Hosepipe ban, be damned! I don't own one and quite frankly, resent the implication.

The Spanish don't have rivers, and bugger-all rain, yet they can make water appear magically through a tap without all this brouhaha; Scotland has plenty too, more than enough - we should invade. . .