What to do during hosepipe ban?

iamtony

iamtony wrote: »

34 Clonshaugh Cl
34 Clonshaugh Cl, Clonshagh, Dublin 17, D17 F962

https://goo.gl/maps/8QfLfg8v1Ru

That white thing is a gazebo with the koi pond next to it, greenhouse after that and down the end is where I keep the hens and the rabbits. Imagine that, in a city. The hens probably have more room than some bedsits to be fair.

Biggest drawback is the broadband is only 360Mbs per second its shocking stuff:)

TomOnBoard

iamtony wrote: »

LOL. If any of you want to fill up your water can from my pools your more than welcome. I'll be changing the water daily cause those pesky flies will end up in their and us city slickers cant handle a fly landing in our tea without making another cup never mind a pool that's just gross:)

Jeez Tony, but you're planning is nothing short of brilliant. I don't know how you even have the brainpower to figure out that daily water change strategy in this hot ould weather what with the brain matter shrinking due to the heat and all...I can't imagine how many other brilliant schemes you'll invent for using other Lidl stuff around the gaff once you cool down a bit after filling the pools using the bucket.

BTW, have you decided on whether it'll be 10 it 12 pools? It's just that you're now up to 5,750 bucketfuls a week per pool, so I'd be worried enough about you having to do the 52,500 a week and would be a bit more worried if you had to push that up to 63,000.

Do you need a loan of any buckets?

PS Sorry to hear about the sh!te broadband.

Brae100

It's great to see all the public spirited posts sharing tips on how to legally bypass the hosepipe ban. When water is cut off to some areas the people will thank you.

iamtony

iamtony wrote: »

Clonshagh, Dublin 17.

That white thing is a gazebo with the koi pond next to it, greenhouse after that and down the end is where I keep the hens and the rabbits. Imagine that, in a city. The hens probably have more room than some bedsits to be fair.

In fairness, the exact address probably wasn't necessary. Might do no harm to take that out of your post, incase anyone tries to steal your pool

You're a bit further north of the city than i anticipated (not sure i'd call you 'city centre' :P ) but that's still a large enough garden in fairness.

I think you're quite lucky to be the last house in the cul de sac there too (either means you're tormented with anti social behaviour, or no one ever goes down near you, and judging by the general area on Google Maps, i'd say you dont get too many issues, as the place looks quite clean and presentable (aside from the eyesore Graffiti, but that doesn't really seem to make it any further than the wall beside the green area. so i presume thats as far as the teens go, which is good).


Still, if it were me, I'd be selling the house at a marked up price and moving to the middle of Cavan for much less (that's my long term plan! :P )

TomOnBoard

[Deleted User] wrote: »

In fairness, the exact address probably wasn't necessary. Might do no harm to take that out of your post, incase anyone tries to steal your pool

You're a bit further north of the city than i anticipated (not sure i'd call you 'city centre' :P ) but that's still a large enough garden in fairness.

I think you're quite lucky to be the last house in the cul de sac there too (either means you're tormented with anti social behaviour, or no one ever goes down near you, and judging by the general area on Google Maps, i'd say you dont get too many issues, as the place looks quite clean and presentable (aside from the eyesore Graffiti, but that doesn't really seem to make it any further than the wall beside the green area. so i presume thats as far as the teens go, which is good).


Still, if it were me, I'd be selling the house at a marked up price and moving to the middle of Cavan for much less (that's my long term plan! :P )

I think Tony will be busy enough for the next couple of weeks what with keeping his 10( or 12) pools refilled and free of critters every day and won't be having time trying to get onto Daft on his sh!te Broadband to check out his new gaff in Cavan. What's he going to do with the Koi? The Koi wouldn't last a week in Cavan! I'm not even sure the rabbits would survive the winters there either.

TomOnBoard

TomOnBoard wrote: »

I think Tony will be busy enough for the next couple of weeks what with keeping his 10( or 12) pools refilled and free of critters every day and won't be having time trying to get onto Daft on his sh!te Broadband to check out his new gaff in Cavan. What's he going to do with the Koi? The Koi wouldn't last a week in Cavan! I'm not even sure the rabbits would survive the winters there either.

I think Tony was being sarcastic when he commented that he was going to fill every bit of space on front and back gardens with swimming pools, and empty and refill them every time a fly landed in one.


(unless he is smart enough to do exactly that, then rent them out by the hour for people to use. Quids-in!).

TomOnBoard

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I think Tony was being sarcastic when he commented that he was going to fill every bit of space on front and back gardens with swimming pools, and empty and refill them every time a fly landed in one.


(unless he is smart enough to do exactly that, then rent them out by the hour for people to use. Quids-in!).

I dunno but Tony strikes me to be a very smart dude. I'd say he has a cunning plan!

PLL

Buy some 5L bottles of water from Aldi, only a couple of euro.

TomOnBoard

PLL wrote: »

Buy some 5L bottles of water from Aldi, only a couple of euro.

Ah now come on! Sure if Tony has to be going into Aldi to buy the water for his pools, he'll have no time for scooping out the dead flies and feeding them to the Koi. Ah sure if there's only 5L in each bottle, that'd take at least 105,000 bottles a week to be hauled out of Aldi.

I don't think the Aldi strategy will work in fairness. But fair play, it was a good try.

I don't know where Tony is. Maybe he's out the back clearing space for the pools. BuT he needs to tell us what he wants us to do. Like, I put out a call earlier and I have a load of old Mayonnaise buckets from Centra and Supermac's that'll be ready on Tuesday and they're going to want to know whether they'll need to deliver them to Clonshaugh or to Cavan...

threetrees

Maybe filling pools is insignificant, maybe people will buy and keep till another time, maybe only people outside the restricted area will buy, BUT it's the general message that's being sent out - "selling large pools during a hosepipe ban" just isn't good marketing.

iamwhoiam

I have put a basin in my sink , every time we rinse something or run the tap for cold water etc its gathering in the basin .I then empty it on to the flowers when its full .I was amazed yesterday that I emptied it three times over the day .Its easy to do and the flowers get that water that would have gone down the drain .

c6ysaphjvqw41k

This post has been deleted.

iamtony

TomOnBoard wrote: »

Ah now come on! Sure if Tony has to be going into Aldi to buy the water for his pools, he'll have no time for scooping out the dead flies and feeding them to the Koi. Ah sure if there's only 5L in each bottle, that'd take at least 105,000 bottles a week to be hauled out of Aldi.

I don't think the Aldi strategy will work in fairness. But fair play, it was a good try.

I don't know where Tony is. Maybe he's out the back clearing space for the pools. BuT he needs to tell us what he wants us to do. Like, I put out a call earlier and I have a load of old Mayonnaise buckets from Centra and Supermac's that'll be ready on Tuesday and they're going to want to know whether they'll need to deliver them to Clonshaugh or to Cavan...

Tom. Is it Aldi the pools are in? I bought a tent in lidl and have it pitched outside their front door and I'm sleeping here waiting for the pools to be released, I'm first in the que but if its Aldi that are selling the pools I haven't got a hope of getting them as the que will be around the block at this stage:)
P. S please send buckets to lidl I'm Burstin at this stage. The beer didn't help last night!

iamtony

Deleted User wrote: »

In fairness, the exact address probably wasn't necessary. Might do no harm to take that out of your post, incase anyone tries to steal your pool

You're a bit further north of the city than i anticipated (not sure i'd call you 'city centre' :P ) but that's still a large enough garden in fairness.

I think you're quite lucky to be the last house in the cul de sac there too (either means you're tormented with anti social behaviour, or no one ever goes down near you, and judging by the general area on Google Maps, i'd say you dont get too many issues, as the place looks quite clean and presentable (aside from the eyesore Graffiti, but that doesn't really seem to make it any further than the wall beside the green area. so i presume thats as far as the teens go, which is good).


Still, if it were me, I'd be selling the house at a marked up price and moving to the middle of Cavan for much less (that's my long term plan! :P )

Gas, I never though about the Street View ha ha. That image is so old it's a snap shot in time, hopefully when they update you can still go see the old images. My front garden is so much prettier these days particularly the wall which is now cream and has lots of hanging baskets(lidls finest).
Not much anti social behavior. The odd time kids climb the wall as a short cut to the shops or going the other way to the park at the end of the road. But it's covered in tar now so not an issue. The green space at the end of the road is only used by the kids, mostly girls for some reason and all around 8 years old.
Hilarious I looked for your grafitti at the end of the road and I found a name painted, it must of been done 20 years ago. The guy who wrote it is behind bars now days.
As for being central, if you zoom out you'll see the r139 at the other side of the park, I believe that's the border(definitely used to be) between Co. Dublin and the city.

my3cents

threetrees wrote: »

Maybe filling pools is insignificant, maybe people will buy and keep till another time, maybe only people outside the restricted area will buy, BUT it's the general message that's being sent out - "selling large pools during a hosepipe ban" just isn't good marketing.

Its brilliant marketing just look at the free publicity, there can hardly be anyone in Ireland that doesn't know Lidl were selling swimming pools and most people could even tell you what size they are - 7,500l.

xboxdad

Will freshly laid rollout lawn recover if I don't water it for a month?

We just moved into our house two weeks ago and spent thousands on getting proper grass in the garden. (instead of buying furniture for the living room)

The company who laid the grass said it's paramount that I water it 3 times a day. I can't afford to lose this money, so can you please advise what's the minimum I'll have to do to keep it alive?

my3cents

xboxdad wrote: »

Will freshly laid rollout lawn recover if I don't water it for a month?

We just moved into our house two weeks ago and spent thousands on getting proper grass in the garden. (instead of buying furniture for the living room)

The company who laid the grass said it's paramount that I water it 3 times a day. I can't afford to lose this money, so can you please advise what's the minimum I'll have to do to keep it alive?

Three times a day is ridiculous, if you are watering properly with something like a lawn queen sprinkler then once every 3 days would be more like it.

xboxdad

my3cents wrote: »

Three times a day is ridiculous, if you are watering properly with something like a lawn queen sprinkler then once every 3 days would be more like it.

Thank you! I only have a hose ATM, but I'll get whatever it takes to breach the ban as little is possible while still keeping my investment alive.

my3cents

xboxdad wrote: »

Thank you! I only have a hose ATM, but I'll get whatever it takes to breach the ban as little is possible while still keeping my investment alive.

When you do it first put some jam jars around the lawn under the spray then you'll get some idea of how much water the lawn is getting, from them you can take a guesstimate as to how long you need to leave it running each time. Google will tell you that a lawn needs and inch to and inch and a half a week but it doesn't need that much just to keep it going. About half an inch every three days will be more than enough. Also much more effective if put on late at night when its cooler and had time to soak in.

xboxdad

my3cents wrote: »

When you do it first put some jam jars around the lawn under the spray then you'll get some idea of how much water the lawn is getting, from them you can take a guesstimate as to how long you need to leave it running each time. Google will tell you that a lawn needs and inch to and inch and a half a week but it doesn't need that much just to keep it going. About half an inch every three days will be more than enough. Also much more effective if put on late at night when its cooler and had time to soak in.

Thank you. Is this the rule for already established lawn or freshly laid lawn that still has to get integrated with the soil?

my3cents

xboxdad wrote: »

Thank you. Is this the rule for already established lawn or freshly laid lawn that still has to get integrated with the soil?

An established lawn an inch or more of water a week but you only need to keep turf alive and the soil beneath it moist. Too much water at this stage won't help you.

xboxdad

my3cents wrote: »

An established lawn an inch or more of water a week but you only need to keep turf alive and the soil beneath it moist. Too much water at this stage won't help you.

Thank you, I really appreciate your help!

my3cents

xboxdad wrote: »

Thank you, I really appreciate your help!

I'm assuming its a new lawn laid with turf, if so the first danger sign is the turf shrinking when you see gaps between all the individual turves.

If its a seeded lawn and its germinated then you can keep it going with even less water.

xboxdad

my3cents wrote: »

I'm assuming its a new lawn laid with turf, if so the first danger sign is the turf shrinking when you see gaps between all the individual turves.

Yes, it is new lawn laid with turf and I do see gaps between the turves.
However, since I kept watering it, the grass kept growing and it's approx 2 inches long now. I see very little of what's going on at ground level now. Hopefully it's not shrinking..

Living Off The Splash

We have a 5 litre empty bottles beside all the sinks in our house. When we run the hot tap we collect all the cold water in this container until it runs warm. We usually can collect 4 litres of cold water. This is then transferred to the cistern. We have been doing this for years.

I have several raised beds with vegetables. I will water these as needs be. I do not waste water.

Is it not possible for Irish Water to collect all the rainwater that fell in early Spring for use in situations like this?

iamwhoiam

Living Off The Splash wrote: »

We have a 5 litre empty bottles beside all the sinks in our house. When we run the hot tap we collect all the cold water in this container until it runs warm. We usually can collect 4 litres of cold water. This is then transferred to the cistern. We have been doing this for years.

I have several raised beds with vegetables. I will water these as needs be. I do not waste water.

Is it not possible for Irish Water to collect all the rainwater that fell in early Spring for use in situations like this?

I am doing the same with a plastic basin in the sink . I can't believe how much water we gather in it that otherwise would drain away

tototoe

TomOnBoard wrote:

And, given that you live in Dub!in, ye've fook all water at the best of times. Sure aren't ye trying to hijack the Shannon these days. Just be careful about that strategy though- the culchies love to dump their sh!t directly into that river.

Had to laugh at the lad from irish water on the news earlier basically saying if they don't take water from the shannon these drought warnings and bans will become more common place. Using the opportunity to get their way methinks. Also basically saying the volume of leakage which is very high, had little to do with the issue and fixing the leaks wouldn't have helped. Go figure.

Anyone listening to newstalk this morning would have heard the complete opposite. Usually newstalk are the voice of Irish water so it was surprising. The indo and rte are also hilariously spinning this issue..it's not even the tiniest bit transparent imo.

Living Off The Splash

Living Off The Splash wrote: »

We have a 5 litre empty bottles beside all the sinks in our house. When we run the hot tap we collect all the cold water in this container until it runs warm. We usually can collect 4 litres of cold water. This is then transferred to the cistern. We have been doing this for years.

I have several raised beds with vegetables. I will water these as needs be. I do not waste water.

Is it not possible for Irish Water to collect all the rainwater that fell in early Spring for use in situations like this?

It’s the treating of water that’s causing the problem. Irish Water are performing at full capacity. The increased demand by people using hoses etc means more needs treatment which isn’t possible. Hence the request for people to act with consideration of others and conserve what water is being treated.

magicbastarder

Living Off The Splash wrote: »

Is it not possible for Irish Water to collect all the rainwater that fell in early Spring for use in situations like this?

they do. they store it in these things called 'reservoirs'.

Mark Horgan

magicbastarder wrote: »

they do. they store it in these things called 'reservoirs'.

Get up to speed here Mary, leaks and demand don’t be long depleting a reservoir.

standardg60

xboxdad wrote: »

Yes, it is new lawn laid with turf and I do see gaps between the turves.
However, since I kept watering it, the grass kept growing and it's approx 2 inches long now. I see very little of what's going on at ground level now. Hopefully it's not shrinking..

The fact it's growing means the turf has already rooted so you're past the critical point of danger. I wouldn't bother with a sprinkler now (or at any time really) as a lot of the water is lost to evaporation or simply misses the area.

You're way better off to lay the bare hose directly on the lawn, let it soak for a couple of minutes and then move to another area. The edges will be most particularly at risk. This way you'll only need to use a hose for ten minutes.

Obviously this is only in the case of newly turfed lawns where there's great expense gone to.

standardg60

Mark Horgan wrote: »

Get up to speed here Mary, leaks and demand don’t be long depleting a reservoir.

Mary is well up to speed as am I.
Poulaphouca is well above normal for the time of year.
It's stupidity like watering a two year old lawn every night for six weeks that has lead to the restriction.

tvjunki

Living Off The Splash wrote: »

We have a 5 litre empty bottles beside all the sinks in our house. When we run the hot tap we collect all the cold water in this container until it runs warm. We usually can collect 4 litres of cold water. This is then transferred to the cistern. We have been doing this for years.

I have several raised beds with vegetables. I will water these as needs be. I do not waste water.

Is it not possible for Irish Water to collect all the rainwater that fell in early Spring for use in situations like this?

The 5litre bottle thing is a great idea.

Use a watering can with sprinkler top depending on the size of the garden.

I also have a water but the size of an oil tank linked to the shed roof and that fills up quickly in the winter. The plants love it as the leaves in the guttering break down into the water.
I collect the water from cleaning veg and boiling veg. I leave to cool and put that on the plants.

We waste a lot of water here. I think the water collected on the roof is not used and ends up being dumped out to sea. In the U.K. Run off water is gathered processed and used.

standardg60

tvjunki wrote: »

The 5litre bottle thing is a great idea.

Use a watering can with sprinkler top depending on the size of the garden.

I also have a water but the size of an oil tank linked to the shed roof and that fills up quickly in the winter. The plants love it as the leaves in the guttering break down into the water.
I collect the water from cleaning veg and boiling veg. I leave to cool and put that on the plants.

We waste a lot of water here. I think the water collected on the roof is not used and ends up being dumped out to sea. In the U.K. Run off water is gathered processed and used.

I'd love to know what happens to the run off water too, I have separate drains for the house and gutters but certainly in Dublin most of the older houses run into the same one and more often than not the sink /washing machine pipe is directed into the gutter downpipe drain so it's probably impossible to do anything other than dump it.

cbreeze

There is one glorious green garden in my street and all the others are yellow. Hmmm!

I'd never dream of wasting time watering my extensive collection of weeds/wildflowers. Saving the water for my whisky - only a little drop, mind.

standardg60

Just enough to stave off the hangover and be able to pee on the lawn.

tvjunki

standardg60 wrote: »

I'd love to know what happens to the run off water too, I have separate drains for the house and gutters but certainly in Dublin most of the older houses run into the same one and more often than not the sink /washing machine pipe is directed into the gutter downpipe drain so it's probably impossible to do anything other than dump it.

It does not have to be dumped. It can be processed and recycled. The building reg can change to say new estates run off water must go into the waste system. You think of it in the U.K. All run off water as well as waste water is used and recycled clean.

I don't know what you can do the existing systems but it could pipe all the water into the foul water. It will be costly but at least it will stop waste.

magicbastarder

that sounds like a very, *very* costly way of going about it. piping storm drains into foul, fouls the storm water and means it would *have* to be treated; regardless of whether it's intended for consumption again.

hkjohn

The thing I find really distasteful is the Stasi-style tactics IW have adopted by setting up a hotline so sneaks can inform on their errant neighbours.

Are Irish people capable of such nastiness? I remember when I got a temporary job working in the DHSS in Coventry many years ago. I and the rest of the lads were put in charge of opening letters from people informing on benefit cheats/people they didn't like. We routinely used to rip many of the more mean-minded letters up.

While a hotline will stop letters being ripped up, why stop there? Why not set up a Water Youth movement in schools where kids could denounce their parents who would then be tarred and feathered as a lesson to other offenders.

FWIW, I live in Roscommon where we have so much water falling from the skies each winter and spring, the H20-starved jackeens up in Dublin are apparently trying to claim the River Shannon as their own.

LirW

hkjohn wrote: »

Are Irish people capable of such nastiness?

Well, the problem is that this should involve all people working together, yet some clearly see themselves as entitled enough to not obey the rules that are better for everyone, especially in times of drought.
Why should one party clearly follow the rules and bend over backwards to conserve water as well as they are able to, while the neighbour fills up their new Lidl pool for his little brats? These people ruin it for everyone.
Some people simply don't care and go on with their day like there's nothing wrong and these people only feel it when it hits them in their wallet.

I think it really depends on how it happens? My neighbour watering her few flowers once a week with a hose? Don't care. Neighbour fills a huge pool, hoses their car down every second day and waters their front garden with hose every day? Now that would bother me when I'm conserving water where I can.

theyoungchap

What we have been doing.

Empty the kettle for new water, washing veg, wanting a fresh glass of water = into the basin -> into mop bucket -> onto the garden late at night.

Toilet - if its yellow its mellow, if its brown flush it down.

Give the garden 5-6 watering cans of water every 2nd night - just enough to stop everything dying. The grass will be fine, it is yellow and will be grand.

If I seen my neighbour filling a paddling pool I would have no problem ringing IW. Just like if I thought he was a dole cheat I would have no problem ringing DEASP.

It is funny that the only time there was a drop in water consumption in this country was when people thought they were going to be paying per consumption.

Maybe, just maybe, at some point we might have a sensible discussion about how much a litre of water costs to be made drinkable and how much the excess (and leaks, etc) use costs us tax payers. But some will just never let things get beyond political opportunism to that point.

xboxdad

standardg60 wrote: »

The fact it's growing means the turf has already rooted so you're past the critical point of danger. I wouldn't bother with a sprinkler now (or at any time really) as a lot of the water is lost to evaporation or simply misses the area.

You're way better off to lay the bare hose directly on the lawn, let it soak for a couple of minutes and then move to another area. The edges will be most particularly at risk. This way you'll only need to use a hose for ten minutes.

Obviously this is only in the case of newly turfed lawns where there's great expense gone to.

Thank you! Is it just a regular hose with no end piece attached that I should lay on the grass or I should get one of those soaker hoses for the job?

theyoungchap

xboxdad wrote: »

Thank you! Is it just a regular hose with no end piece attached that I should lay on the grass or I should get one of those soaker hoses for the job?

What bit of the current hose pipe ban don't you understand? Your grass will be fine once it rains. Stop wasting water on it.

harr

I just emptied out the paddle pool and no I won’t be refilling with a hose.. but the ground was so hard the water barely penetrated it , it kind of just sat on top and evaporated. 10 minutes later lawn done dry. It going to take more than a few showers of rain to bring everything back to life again..

theyoungchap

harr wrote: »

I just emptied out the paddle pool and no I won’t be refilling with a hose.. but the ground was so hard the water barely penetrated it , it kind of just sat on top and evaporated. 10 minutes later lawn done dry. It going to take more than a few showers of rain to bring everything back to life again..

Why didn't you do it tonight when it was getting dark/cooler? Of course it'll evaporate at 11am.......

harr

theyoungchap wrote: »

Why didn't you do it tonight when it was getting dark/cooler? Of course it'll evaporate at 11am.......

Wasn’t really emptied out to water garden I was just tidying up the garden...just surprised at the lack of soakage..

iguana

theyoungchap wrote: »

If I seen my neighbour filling a paddling pool I would have no problem ringing IW. Just like if I thought he was a dole cheat I would have no problem ringing DEASP.

I have two paddling pools. A larger 10ft one that I haven't used this year and a small one that is the lid off the sand box, that I have used this year. The small one holds less water than my bath and I fill it about a third of the way up for my son to use to cool during the day. He uses the water in that for about 4 days using a lot less water than the baths or showers he'd be having every evening as he's hot and filthy by the end of every day. Once the water needs to be replaced I leave it uncovered on the lawn so my neighbours ducks can come in for a splash about (which is the most insanely cute thing ever). Then I use the water for my plants and fruit trees. I wash out the pool with a basin of used wash-up water and empty that too into my plants. In the meantime any plants I have in smaller pots with holes in the bottom are sitting permanently in the bath which is keeping them alive on minimal water.

The same water gets used repeatedly and it's a lot easier for me to use the paddling pool water for my plants than it is to use bathwater. No matter how hard I try I'm not going to be able to get all the water from the bath to the garden, whereas it's simple to ensure every last drop gets used efficiently from the pool. And the plants in the bath aren't going to be able to stay there when I go back to needing the bath for my son. And no, they won't come close to fitting in the paddling pool to use that instead, I've checked. So in the coming days, when my area is likely included in the hosepipe ban, I will inevitably use more water rather than less and the poor ducks won't get a chance to cool down. 3 watering cans will be enough for the paddling pool but I don't want Irish Water to come knocking on my door because some eejit who likely uses more water in a day than I do in a week reports me.

Wheety

cbreeze wrote: »

There is one glorious green garden in my street and all the others are yellow. Hmmm!

Is it fake grass?

NickNickleby

I'm assuming there's some gardeners on here:pac:

After washing the veggies in water. When doing the cabbage I always add some salt to the water, to help clean it of anything I don't want to eat - occasionally I'll get a creepy crawley or flies out.

So today, being the dutiful citizen I recovered the water from the sink instead of pulling the plug, then poured it onto : Hebe (spelling?) Lavender and Fuschia. Went back for the dregs using a glass, and thought "why not drink it? Ah wait, sure there's salt in it. Arrghhh, there's SALT in it ".

Given that only yesterday the real gardener of the house ie. She Who Must Be Obeyed, said how lovely the lavender and hebes are, I'm just a little concerned. should I start packing now? It was about half a sink of water (say 1 gallon) and less than 1 tablespoon of salt. How much less I can't say.

garv123

Does the hosepipe plan apply to a private well?