In article ,
says...
On 2010-06-24 15:16:31 +0100, Jake said:

On Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:36:09 +0100, Broadback
wrote:

Muddymike wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:38:42 +0100, "Muddymike"
wrote:

As of April we, in England and Wales at least, have new legislation
called the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 - supposedly to bring up
to date the archaic rules which in the 2006 drought allowed you to hose
down your patio but not your family's veg plot.

Thanks for updating us on the new rules
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

On 2010-06-28 12:42:36 +0100, Charlie Pridham
said:

In article ,
says...
On 2010-06-24 15:16:31 +0100, Jake said:

On Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:36:09 +0100, Broadback
wrote:

Muddymike wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:38:42 +0100, "Muddymike"
wrote:

As of April we, in England and Wales at least, have new legislation
called the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 - supposedly to bring up
to date the archaic rules which in the 2006 drought allowed you to hose
down your patio but not your family's veg plot.

Thanks for updating us on the new rules

For the sake of clarity, the new hosepipe laws don't yet apply and
won't apply until such time as they are incorporated into water
industry regulations, the framing of which is a current and ongoing
process. So United Utilities, and any other water company which imposes
a hosepipe ban in the foreseeable future will do so under the Water
Industry Act 1991 which caused such a furore in 2006. So some of the
hosepipe uses which *cannot yet* be banned include:

- cleaning a private leisure boat using a hosepipe;
- filling or maintaining a domestic swimming or paddling pool;
- drawing water, using a hosepipe, for domestic recreational use (eg
water fights, paddling pools);
- filling or maintaining a domestic pond using a hosepipe;
- filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain;
- cleaning walls, or windows, of domestic premises using a hosepipe;
- cleaning paths or patios using a hosepipe;
- cleaning other artificial outdoor surfaces using a hosepipe.

Arguably, watering an allotment with a hosepipe also cannot yet be
banned as it isn't a private garden.

And most sadly, the water companies cannot yet use the new
discretionary powers which the 2010 Act gives them, eg to exempt
certain types of people, certain types of water-efficient irrigation
equipment and even certain times of day from hosepipe bans.