[snip]

Have you checked with you water company that you don't now need a licence
for the system? Last time I asked Thames Water they told me that a
hand-held hose was fine but that any sort of sprinkler, system or even the
regular "plonk in the middle of the lawn ones", required me to get a
licence.

This may depend on whether you are metered, or not (I'm not) but it's worth
checking in case you suddenly get a knock at the door one evening!

BTW, not long after I enquired, a Thames Water van appeared and sat in our
road most of one evening with no apparent activity. My suspicious mind did
wonder whether they were watching for unusual water flow. Not that they'd
have found any since my garden is "green" and if the plants can't survive on
the rain they get, then they don't!

Paul DS