Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

DavebytheSea wrote:I do - and it claims it uses less water than handwashing. We set it to go every evening as we go to bed having filled it during the day. We also share our daily bath (yeugh!) and now we are down to three, it is not quite so bad.

(Where our waste water goes is a bit of a mystery - we are not connected to any obvious drainage system - there is no main sewer in this neck of the woods. No manholes in the garden either but it seems to have worked OK for 50 years or so)

The dishwasher probably does use less water than handwashing, a washing machine certainly does.

We all shower except husband who doesn't feel clean unless the suds are up to his neck.

Daughter uses as much water a a bath though.

cj wrote:And DBTS, I didn't say chuck a piece of masonry at your lav!!! Are you suffering from PMT (post-meridian tiredness)?

No - but I have a severe dose of Protracted Mental Torture as a result of trying to stem the flow by sticking my thumb into the breech. Should I dig up the road outside and see if I can find a stopcock or something?

If you make another hole in it, you can stick your thumbs in your breeches.

Cath, don't you think that, at the very least, you should come and help - after what you've done?

I've now dug a trench right across the road, and all that's happened is that it has filled up with water and completely stopped any cars reaching the houses at the end of the road. Moreover, the trench is now overflowing from the water that has burst through from the broken toilet upstairs and is cascading merrily out of the back door and across the lawn.

I think the crisis is about to get worse .......

englishangel wrote: I don't have a dishwasher.

Everything gets scraped into the recycling bin with a paper towel, then the water goes on the garden.

I wasn't going to comment on this thread..............

BUT !!

I do, and she's sunbathing in the garden as I type !!

many reservoirs in the country are covered anyway. the ones that aren't are presumably used for something else as well.
the problem with photovoltaic in the UK is self evident, we may be having goodish weather at the moment but you know it won't last. wind power seems the best option (save for the NIMBYs and the "Disgusted-Tunbridge-Wells"s

we don't have a shower at home (not enough pressure) but i do put my bath water on the garden, so all in all it's probably better as you can't put shower water on the garden without some feat of engineering (or using the plug if you have a shower that runs into bath).

if you use ecover or other biodegradable detergents then you can put any of your used water on the garden.

but what we need to do most of all is to start recycling our own sh*t. this will require an initial amount of capital, and government cooperation and grants. that is partly the problem.
human faeces takes about a year before it is fit for compost. and with the water we use to flush it this would mean a large amount of volume which had to be stored for a large amount of time. unless, you filter the lot through sand, keep the solids in one small tank, and separate the liquids into a different tank which would only take a week or less to break down into rich, fertile garden water.

I don't and would never water the garden......a complete waste of water, it rains enough even in a "drought" to stay healthy - hence, what can ido with bath/shower water?

jtaylor wrote:I don't and would never water the garden......a complete waste of water, it rains enough even in a "drought" to stay healthy - hence, what can ido with bath/shower water?

You are too young to remember 1984 (not the book!) when Essex hyad no rain from February to November. That's not enough rain for the garden to remain healthy. Younger son can kill everything in 3 weeks by not bothering to water plants!

DavebytheSea wrote:Cath, don't you think that, at the very least, you should come and help - after what you've done?

I've now dug a trench right across the road, and all that's happened is that it has filled up with water and completely stopped any cars reaching the houses at the end of the road. Moreover, the trench is now overflowing from the water that has burst through from the broken toilet upstairs and is cascading merrily out of the back door and across the lawn.

I think the crisis is about to get worse .......

It has!

A pair of swans have just taken up residence in the trench and are hissing vehemently at anybody who attempts to pass. Two council workers who arrived to stem the flow turned tail and fled and in doing so bumped their van into a parked vehicle which promptly rolled down the road and into the harbour. I have suggested the bill is sent to you Cath.

......... meanwhile, the torrent rages on. .......

......... I learnt at a very tender age not to mess with swans !

DavebytheSea wrote:

DavebytheSea wrote:Cath, don't you think that, at the very least, you should come and help - after what you've done?

I've now dug a trench right across the road, and all that's happened is that it has filled up with water and completely stopped any cars reaching the houses at the end of the road. Moreover, the trench is now overflowing from the water that has burst through from the broken toilet upstairs and is cascading merrily out of the back door and across the lawn.

I think the crisis is about to get worse .......

It has!

A pair of swans have just taken up residence in the trench and are hissing vehemently at anybody who attempts to pass. Two council workers who arrived to stem the flow turned tail and fled and in doing so bumped their van into a parked vehicle which promptly rolled down the road and into the harbour. I have suggested the bill is sent to you Cath.

......... meanwhile, the torrent rages on. .......

DBTS, I feel you must be making things seem worse than they really are. After all, it's only a little bit of water. Divert the water and dig a swimming pool or yachting pond in your garden. Always happy to help with suggestions!!

This country amazes me. We are a tiny island, surrounded by water and our plants have to wilt.

A mate in Dubai has just sent me some photo's of his local golf course, and their greens are far greener than any in this country at present. I think it's called de-salination !

Someone suggest a de-salination plant out in the Thames estuary. Red Ken said 'No', because it would cost too much to run............

Errrrrrrr !!!!! EXCUSE ME ???????????????????

sejintenej wrote:

jtaylor wrote:I don't and would never water the garden......a complete waste of water, it rains enough even in a "drought" to stay healthy - hence, what can ido with bath/shower water?

You are too young to remember 1984 (not the book!) when Essex had no rain from February to November. That's not enough rain for the garden to remain healthy. Younger son can kill everything in 3 weeks by not bothering to water plants!

Not too young, but I don't remember it!!

So I guess this standpoint says that gardens are as important as drinking/washing water?
I appreciate in 1984 this may have been the case, but I haven't put water on my garden at all, and the plants that are in it thrive no problem at all.....
In order to save water, should there not be a major Green campaign to ban all water-intensive plants, and replace with drought-tolerant alternatives??
Watering gardens is simply mad.........

jtaylor wrote:Watering gardens is simply mad.........

Not if you grow your own fruit and veg, or have animals, or run a smallholding.

The amount of domestic(?) water consumed through hose pipes is 6% of the total...a hard to confirm amount since such estimates are riddled with approximations and assumptions.... I suppose this is quite a lot since it is essentially a luxury item but...

IMHO, everyone should use as much water as they can, so that we run out, have a crisis and force the govt to actually do something about the problem instead of being able to procrastinate the whole issue by making short term cutbacks.