Hosepipe ban - enforceable?

[Mickymoody]

on wednesday at the jobcenter the guy in front of me asked about a job he'd seen on the terminals that he was perfect for..
it was a job with a council for something ( didn't catch the details ), but it was only open to dissabled people....!!!!!!!!!!
if they advertised a job as "only open to white british males aged between 24 and 30" then there would be uproar..

Wheelchair access tester?......

which is still a perfectly acceptibl job for an able bodied person to do.. you don't have to be dissabled to sit in a wheelchair.. there was an advert a few years ago in the local paper for an electric wheelchair / scooter tester.. no mention of disabled only..

also the specific post above didn't mention wheelchair, just dissabled person..
the bloke that they were giving the details to didn't look dissabled at all to me so why he was classed as dissabled is beyond me..

Councils especially have to employ a certain criteria of disabled persons, I think most employers do. Just because someone doesn't 'look' disabled, doesn't mean that they aren't disabled. There was a recent advert in a job agency, but in Polish, and it translated to 'Poles only, English need not apply', and they got told to take the ad down. There was also a jobcentre advert for 'webcam operatives, only applicable to ladies to show off their bits and bobs', so why for ladies only? Thats sexist.

You are hijacking the thread Coljack, about a touchy subject, that has nothing to do with the OP's post, maybe start your own on the subject if you feel that strongly. I'd certainly contribute, as my brother is in a wheelchair, so what you say about the disabled is very interesting to me. But post it in the right context, in the right area. And spellcheck disabled.

I know you are frustrated, and want to get your word around, but don't hijack a thread to make your point. I can see you are frustrated.

 

[chapeau]

It is however relevant to the enforceability of the law.

If somebody came round to my door asking why my lawn was lovely and green when all around was brown I could simply tell them I was disabled, mind your own business, and get on yer bike. Even in modern Britain, I don't think your local water chap has the right to demand to see your disabled certificate, though i am sure if Labour had won the election it would have been swiftly implemented into another one of their snoopers charter law they loved so much.

So what can the water board do then?

Law books all say you are innocent until proven guilty, and it is up to the prosecution to prove you "done it". If summoned to court, the Law Books will say the accused only has to say 'Not guilty. Prove it to the bald headed ***** on the bench, you nosey ******, Prove that I am not disabled and am unable to carry a small watering can down the bottom of the garden unlike all my hard working tax paying neighbours with their brown lawns. I am saying nothing more".

Which according to the law books should result in a swift acquittal. Which means the law is unenforcable - if you know what you are doing, and you come up against a Bench that doesn't believe the accused walks in guilty and has to prove his innocence.

 

[Thermo]

The order that was posted in the paper was specific to watering gardens, and car washing. Nothing else. So presumably, car washing businesses get some compensation, as they are effectively out of business? Or do the rules not apply there?

What annoys me about the water company is that they charge you for water runoff, from your gutter. But many new housing estates, and people that live on unregistered roads don't do that, but still get charged, the water is flowed back into the watertable, or runoff, and not collected by drain. But the people that have this facility are unaware of this fact, and pay fully. Doesn't apply to me, but I know people that are affected.

My water went off the other day, a neighbour came round to ask if the water was OK, it was off, I was unaware of this, as I was out, so when I came in and turned the tap on, it had an airlock, and nearly $hit myself when the water suddenly blasted out!

no it doesnt apply to commercial use of water, they need a different order to that

 

[Mickymoody]

Apparently a load of letters have been sent out to users breaking the rules, and have been shopped by their neighbours, or water board people...

So we live in a land of snoop and spy?

The other day I was having a ciggy at the front door, and my next door but one called me over, as he was painting his fence..turns out it isn't my neighbour but someone doing work at the house, and he starts describing my garden in detail, and the fact that the water in the pond is low, and wanting the fish off me for his own pond..Now I'm not overlooked by this house..strange that someone that takes so much interest in matters that don't concern them? The pond has been filled to a reasonable level (before the hosepipe ban), but strange how he knew so much, seems like voyerism(sp)?

My gardens are pretty much left to their own devices, and have NEVER been watered, more like a jungle that needs attacking, and my 2nd replacement strimmer is about as reliable as a BP oil cap.

So beware of spys! Are you allowed to use a pressure washer to clean flags? (not that I would), is there an option for brown water to be collected (ie tap run off), the water company reaps the rewards and profits, but does eff all for customers, same old - profit, and when times are bad, screw the customer.

 

[JamesA]

It’s not that the ban will make a massive difference; it’s more trying to encourage less waste.
We should act as if there’s a permanent hosepipe ban.

I bet they're looking to give some fines out to show they mean business and someone's going to be very unlucky.

Water is not free and takes energy and creates carbon emissions.
Why shouldn’t people shop their neighbours? Frankly if they’re breaking the ban they’re not being a good member of society and they deserve what they get.

People don’t know how to water their plants.
Some of my neighbours use the full spray of their hose over their plants every night
Watering should be directed to the roots.
Water going everywhere encourages weeds.
Wetting the foliage encourages diseases.
Wetting the foliage in hot weather may scorch the plants.
The main issue is just it’s totally inefficient and doesn’t get to the plants.

Someone pointed out that hoses do come with triggers to allow more accurate watering, so I think the idea is the disabled do that and do little blasts at the roots of their plants.
However a drip irrigation system (can be attached to a water butt) would make more sense for them.

The water watchdog should have made more investment happen rather than money going to the shareholders.
However, with the constantly expanding population you can’t just go on building.

The problem is the generation who are 40 or older grew up in a time where energy, water etc was so cheap there was no need to be efficient.

When the reservoirs are low, it’d make more sense to ask people not to flush the toilet but that would be even less popular.
Not flushing the toilet a couple of times a day would provide all your watering needs.

It’s a lot harder to tackle the big waste so they tackle the small amount of totally stupid waste.
They should be doing both.

 

[lymmranger]

@ JamesA - You have almost touched on the whole reason I started this thread....

"The water watchdog should have made more investment happen rather than money going to the shareholders.
However, with the constantly expanding population you can’t just go on building."

my original point was exactly that - the water companies are now private, profit making companies whose whole business model revolves solely around paying dividends to its shareholders.

They no longer give a stuff about maintenance never mind investment. Every time they need to carry out a major project they rush off to the regulator bleating that the price needs to increase to pay for it.

...Yet when due to their ineptitude they run short of the very "asset" they are charging us for what do they do?

....they ration it whilst maintaining the same charging structure

the whole system is unfair anyway I reckon that even if I washed both our cars and watered the garden for 2 hours we still use far less water than the huge family next door but one yet they pay exactly the same as we do. By the way do not believe the crap about water meters either we used to have one in a previous house - it cost a fortune compared with our present house

 

[Mickymoody]

I'll keep in mind about this hosepipe ban, when I'm claiming off them for not maintaining the gutters, as my house was nearly flooded the other day.

Same as British Gas saying they have been undercharging me, but then report profits up by 98%..

 

[daneski88]

I'll keep in mind about this hosepipe ban, when I'm claiming off them for not maintaining the gutters, as my house was nearly flooded the other day.

the weather we've been having, they'll be asking us to keep our hosepipes on to drain the reservoirs

Same as British Gas saying they have been undercharging me, but then report profits up by 98%..

Well, they wanted profits up by over 100%, so they have been undercharging

 

[Mickymoody]

I'll keep in mind about this hosepipe ban, when I'm claiming off them for not maintaining the gutters, as my house was nearly flooded the other day.

the weather we've been having, they'll be asking us to keep our hosepipes on to drain the reservoirs

Same as British Gas saying they have been undercharging me, but then report profits up by 98%..

Well, they wanted profits up by over 100%, so they have been undercharging

That's PROFITS remember! There is a gas and water main outside my house, and people park their cars exactly where these are placed, so several times a year, I get a gas or water leak outside my house from people parking on the PAVEMENT where these mains are located.

So I either get no water pressure, or a strong smell of gas, as each one of these break, due to motorists using the pavement as a driveway.

So a crew arrive to dig the road up, another arrive a week later to repair the fault, then another crew appear to fill the hole, badly. But why does it keep breaking? Cars parking on the main! I've told people that they are damaging the pipes, but have met with abuse.