Gray water for irrigation

[Huge]

I have heard (and this may be entirely apochryphal) that the water companies do aerial surveys, and those with green gardens during hosepipe bans may get a visit to be asked why...

[nightjar]

Hosepipe ban is simply a convenient handle for the media. All forms of automatic watering systems are also included. Usually you can still use grey water, but only by using it to fill a watering can etc.

Colin Bignell

[Pete C]

Yup:

(Good series BTW)

cheers, Pete.

[Chris Hodges]

nightjar Hosepipe ban is simply a convenient handle for the media. All forms of

Including stored rainwater supplied through a trickle irrigation system on a timer? I wouldn't be surprised - this is sufficiently stupid to make it onto the statute books - but do you have a reference for the official text.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Doesn't apply to rainwater. Does apply to water supplied to you and water you extract from a well/borehole/stream, even if you already used it once for some other purpose (and hence it's now regarded as gray).

Can't point you to a statute, but this is what a note from Three Valleys Water said in the late 1980's when we had a hosepipe ban for a few years in a row (and they had to keep refunding my hosepipe license fee).

[nightjar]

That isn't grey water.

The bit of paper Southern Water stuck through my door last time around.

Colin Bignell

[Stephen Gower]

I'm looking forward to this, our lawn is sown with Abernile.

[Mary Fisher]

Wossatthen?

Mary

[Chris Hodges]

nightjar >Including stored rainwater supplied through a trickle irrigation system on

Thanks (and thanks Andrew as well). That makes it clearer. I think.

[Stephen Gower]

'm+Feeling+Lucky

[Mary Fisher]

[Michael Mcneil]

Plugging the bathroom outflow into the garden's inflow.

All you need to do it take a section out of the downspout before it joins the main drain. If this happens on the outside wall it is a simple job that won't cost more than a few quid in plastic pipe. (Water butts are a lot more of course.)

It might be worth thinking about if we are in for a few of these summers. If we are at the start of a bad dought cycle and it doesn't hit the peak of the other end of spectrum for another 15 years, that indicates about 7 years or so of dry summers. It would be an investment if there is a re-run of the late 1970's. (IIRC.)

From two full containers you'd get:

2900 liter =

637.9108201 gallon [UK] =

0.0282128 acre-inch (or if the garden is about 1/10th of an acre you will have enough to give it all 1/4 inch.)

is actually plenty for a week or so.

[The Natural Philosopher]

In my lifetime (from 1950) we have had dry summers, wet summers and summers that were a bit of both.

I can';t say that I have seen any discernible pattern, although the winters seem warmer than they were - far less frost about.

And as I write, the lightning is flashing over teh horizon. End of THAT dry spell for a day or so I suspect.

[Michael Mcneil]