MM wrote:
Around here in the Fens there are dykes everywhere. The amount of
water going for free is incredible. (My water supply is metered.) I
thought, why can't I get one of those old-fashioned stirrup pumps
and
pump some out into a container. But then I thought, ah, there's
sure
to be someone who'll say, you can't do that. What's the law?

It seems you can help yourself to up to 20 cubic metres a day, which
is a lot for a stirrup-pump! After that, you need an abstraction
licence. The following site took ages to load just now, but that may
be a transient condition:
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk...75517/?lang=_e

But the dyke may be some sort of private property, so I'd check. Not
that you could use a stirrup-pump anyhow, but I know what you mean.

--
Mike.