On Mon, 16 May 2005 12:10:02 +0100, "pammyT"
wrote:

MM wrote:
On Sun, 15 May 2005 20:07:22 +0200, martin wrote:

On Sun, 15 May 2005 19:02:36 +0100, MM wrote:

On Sun, 15 May 2005 17:09:43 +0100, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:

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.

Goodness! 20 cubic metres a day! That'd be enough to have a bath as
well occasionally! Crikey. Thanks for that. Very interesting. Now
all I need to do is work out a way of fitting a tank into my car!
Although I did see that the Erde trailers outside Halfords are very
cheap. The smaller one was only £149. You'd get a lot of water in a
plastic tank on the back of one of those. Of course, you'd get
about 150 cubic metres of Anglian water for that kind of money
instead, but it's the idea of getting something for nothing that
appeals.

Have you worked out how much 20 cubic metres of water weighs?

I'm not about to extract all 20 in one go! A water butt from B&Q
contains around 200 litres. That would do for starters.

By the time you have used petrol to drive to the dyke,

Around here,you can spit in anydirection and have it end up in a dyke.
It would cost me, ooh, 25 pence in petrol (5 minutes' drive, stop
engine, pump, 5 minutes' back).

and the trailer with
suitable container to hold the water, driven back with a full load, it would
have been cheaper to pay fro metered water.

But not as satisfying.

MM

On Mon, 16 May 2005 07:10:38 +0100, "Brian Watson"
wrote:


"martin" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 15 May 2005 19:02:36 +0100, MM wrote:

On Sun, 15 May 2005 17:09:43 +0100, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:

Of course, you'd get about 150 cubic
metres of Anglian water for that kind of money instead, but it's the
idea of getting something for nothing that appeals.

Have you worked out how much 20 cubic metres of water weighs?

Or how much the petrol will cost to get it home? Or how much the container
to hold it will cost?

Waste of time and money, I call it.

You don't fancy the Good Life, then?

MM

"Neil Tonks" wrote in message
...

"MM" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 15 May 2005 19:51:32 +0100, "Martin"
wrote:

martin wrote:
On Sun, 15 May 2005 19:02:36 +0100, MM wrote:

On Sun, 15 May 2005 17:09:43 +0100, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:

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.

Goodness! 20 cubic metres a day! That'd be enough to have a bath as
well occasionally! Crikey. Thanks for that. Very interesting. Now all
I need to do is work out a way of fitting a tank into my car!
Although I did see that the Erde trailers outside Halfords are very
cheap. The smaller one was only £149. You'd get a lot of water in a
plastic tank on the back of one of those. Of course, you'd get about
150 cubic metres of Anglian water for that kind of money instead,
but it's the idea of getting something for nothing that appeals.

Have you worked out how much 20 cubic metres of water weighs?

20 metric tonnes.

What conversion factor are you using?

As with most substances the density of water varies with temperature. It
also varies with purity.

At 20 degrees celcius, pure water has a mass of around 0.998203g per cc,
so
a cubic metre weighs around 0.998203 tonnes which is surely as near to a
tonne as makes no difference for gardening purposes.


1 Cubic metre of water *at 4 deg C* = 1 tonne. for most calculations this is
regarded as the normal measuring standard, since water is at its densest at
this temperature.


Steve

"Sue Begg" wrote in message
...
In message , pammyT
writes
By the time you have used petrol to drive to the dyke, and the trailer
with
suitable container to hold the water, driven back with a full load, it
would
have been cheaper to pay fro metered water.

purebred poultry
www.geocities.com/fenlandfowl


But not half as much fun :-P

I suppose there is the feeling of beating the system in some way. But
there must be less exhausting ways
--
Sue Begg

Do not mess in the affairs of dragons - for
you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

Dig a well, the water table can not be that far down if you have dykes
nearby, all our water comes from the well.
--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

On Mon, 16 May 2005 07:10:38 +0100, "Brian Watson"
wrote:

~
~"martin" wrote in message
.. .
~ On Sun, 15 May 2005 19:02:36 +0100, MM wrote:
~
~On Sun, 15 May 2005 17:09:43 +0100, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:
~
~ Of course, you'd get about 150 cubic
~metres of Anglian water for that kind of money instead, but it's the
~idea of getting something for nothing that appeals.
~
~ Have you worked out how much 20 cubic metres of water weighs?
~
~Or how much the petrol will cost to get it home? Or how much the container
~to hold it will cost?
~
~Waste of time and money, I call it.
~

Yes, but in a country which is heading for hosepipe bans due to a
shortage of clean water this summer, surely getting water directly
from a dyke will be much greener, as it's not been expensively
purified, saves using drinking water and is in any case gradually
making its way to the sea?

If it's not far away, and therefore not much in the way of petrol,
then surely it's a good idea? Especially if it's fun!

jane, who had a lot of fun wiring up her lottie shed to a water butt
the other week. Course it's hardly rained since... typical!

On Tue, 17 May 2005 11:19:25 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote:

~The message
~from (jane) contains these words:
~
~ Yes, but in a country which is heading for hosepipe bans due to a
~ shortage of clean water this summer, surely getting water directly
~ from a dyke will be much greener, as it's not been expensively
~ purified, saves using drinking water and is in any case gradually
~ making its way to the sea?
~
~ Is it? Or is it gradually seeping back to some deep aquifer from
~which dry areas' essential water supply is drawn? Or pumped onto arable
~crops?
~
~ Janet.

Which are equally as good a use I suspect, but in general most of the
dykes in Lincolnshire seem to drain into the Hundred Foot Drain and
its ilk, and thence to the sea.
http://www.answers.com/topic/the-fens

now you've got me looking


--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!

"MM" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 16 May 2005 07:10:38 +0100, "Brian Watson"
wrote:

Have you worked out how much 20 cubic metres of water weighs?

Or how much the petrol will cost to get it home? Or how much the container
to hold it will cost?

Waste of time and money, I call it.

You don't fancy the Good Life, then?

I have the good life.

:-)

--
Brian
"I'd like to be a bit taller and thinner and have more hair and a bigger
willy. But by and large, I am content."

"jane" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 16 May 2005 07:10:38 +0100, "Brian Watson"
wrote:
~Waste of time and money, I call it.
~

Yes, but in a country which is heading for hosepipe bans due to a
shortage of clean water this summer, surely getting water directly
from a dyke will be much greener, as it's not been expensively
purified, saves using drinking water and is in any case gradually
making its way to the sea?

If it's not far away, and therefore not much in the way of petrol,
then surely it's a good idea? Especially if it's fun!

Except it's taking something that isn't yours.

--
Brian
"Anyway, if you have been, thanks for listening."

In article ,
"Brian Watson" writes:
| "jane" wrote in message
| ...
|
| Yes, but in a country which is heading for hosepipe bans due to a
| shortage of clean water this summer, surely getting water directly
| from a dyke will be much greener, as it's not been expensively
| purified, saves using drinking water and is in any case gradually
| making its way to the sea?
|
| If it's not far away, and therefore not much in the way of petrol,
| then surely it's a good idea? Especially if it's fun!
|
| Except it's taking something that isn't yours.

You do that whenever you draw breath.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
"Brian Watson" writes:
"jane" wrote in message
...

Yes, but in a country which is heading for hosepipe bans due to
a
shortage of clean water this summer, surely getting water
directly
from a dyke will be much greener, as it's not been expensively
purified, saves using drinking water and is in any case
gradually
making its way to the sea?

If it's not far away, and therefore not much in the way of
petrol,
then surely it's a good idea? Especially if it's fun!

Except it's taking something that isn't yours.

You do that whenever you draw breath.

And in any case, as we have seen, he's entitled to 20m^3 a day.
Anybody taking bets on how long he keeps it up?

--
Mike.

On Tue, 17 May 2005 08:18:30 +0000 (UTC),
(jane) wrote:

On Mon, 16 May 2005 07:10:38 +0100, "Brian Watson"
wrote:

~
~"martin" wrote in message
. ..
~ On Sun, 15 May 2005 19:02:36 +0100, MM wrote:
~
~On Sun, 15 May 2005 17:09:43 +0100, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:
~
~ Of course, you'd get about 150 cubic
~metres of Anglian water for that kind of money instead, but it's the
~idea of getting something for nothing that appeals.
~
~ Have you worked out how much 20 cubic metres of water weighs?
~
~Or how much the petrol will cost to get it home? Or how much the container
~to hold it will cost?
~
~Waste of time and money, I call it.
~

Yes, but in a country which is heading for hosepipe bans due to a
shortage of clean water this summer, surely getting water directly
from a dyke will be much greener, as it's not been expensively
purified, saves using drinking water and is in any case gradually
making its way to the sea?

If it's not far away, and therefore not much in the way of petrol,
then surely it's a good idea? Especially if it's fun!

jane, who had a lot of fun wiring up her lottie shed to a water butt
the other week. Course it's hardly rained since... typical!

Ah, Jane, butts! I am thinking of getting one and piping it into the
downpipe from the guttering around my house. Apparently B&Q do a
contraption to redirect the rainwater into the butt which one can fit
into the downpipe somehow. What sort of a job is it? I am a very
effective DIY person!

MM

On Tue, 17 May 2005 17:57:46 +0100, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
"Brian Watson" writes:
"jane" wrote in message
...

Yes, but in a country which is heading for hosepipe bans due to
a
shortage of clean water this summer, surely getting water
directly
from a dyke will be much greener, as it's not been expensively
purified, saves using drinking water and is in any case
gradually
making its way to the sea?

If it's not far away, and therefore not much in the way of
petrol,
then surely it's a good idea? Especially if it's fun!

Except it's taking something that isn't yours.

You do that whenever you draw breath.

And in any case, as we have seen, he's entitled to 20m^3 a day.
Anybody taking bets on how long he keeps it up?

Hang about! I've yet to buy a stirrup pump! As for Watson saying
'Except it's taking something that isn't yours", how prissy can one
be? We have already established that the EA allows it up to 20 cubic
meters a day!

MM

MM wrote:
On Tue, 17 May 2005 08:18:30 +0000 (UTC),
(jane) wrote:

On Mon, 16 May 2005 07:10:38 +0100, "Brian Watson"
wrote:

~
~"martin" wrote in message
.. .
~ On Sun, 15 May 2005 19:02:36 +0100, MM
wrote: ~
~On Sun, 15 May 2005 17:09:43 +0100, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:
~
~ Of course, you'd get about 150 cubic
~metres of Anglian water for that kind of money instead, but it's
the ~idea of getting something for nothing that appeals.
~
~ Have you worked out how much 20 cubic metres of water weighs?
~
~Or how much the petrol will cost to get it home? Or how much the
container ~to hold it will cost?
~
~Waste of time and money, I call it.
~

Yes, but in a country which is heading for hosepipe bans due to a
shortage of clean water this summer, surely getting water directly
from a dyke will be much greener, as it's not been expensively
purified, saves using drinking water and is in any case gradually
making its way to the sea?

If it's not far away, and therefore not much in the way of petrol,
then surely it's a good idea? Especially if it's fun!

jane, who had a lot of fun wiring up her lottie shed to a water butt
the other week. Course it's hardly rained since... typical!

Ah, Jane, butts! I am thinking of getting one and piping it into the
downpipe from the guttering around my house. Apparently B&Q do a
contraption to redirect the rainwater into the butt which one can fit
into the downpipe somehow. What sort of a job is it? I am a very
effective DIY person!

MM

It is very simple indeed. I got one supplied with my water butt. All you
have to do IIRC is cut through the downpipe and put the diverter in place
and realign the downpipe sections.
However I have been pondering this. If one needs the water from the butt,
to water your garden during dry spells, how will the butt get filled in the
first place if the garden is dry because of a dry spell??
Here in my old cottage in the fens, I have a bell shaped water collector
underground.
It was made to catch the rainwater off the roof. I suppose if you have an
older house in the fenland area, you will have such a thing somewhere near
the house also. You could always fit a pump on the top, one of those with a
handle you have to pump with. Be a nice feature aswell as environmentally
friendly.

--�
purebred poultry
www.geocities.com/fenlandfowl

Farmers can "buy" water for extraction under licence but I believe these licences can be revoked if there is a drought.

It is actually illegal to withdraw water for a watermill and return it to the river except under licence!

In England you also need a rod licence to go fishing. Move to Scotland!

In Orkney nobody owns the lochs under viking law so fishing on the lochs is free.

If you are a landowner with a large run-off should the water board pay you for the water provided by your acrerage?

"MM" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 17 May 2005 17:57:46 +0100, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:


And in any case, as we have seen, he's entitled to 20m^3 a day.
Anybody taking bets on how long he keeps it up?

Hang about! I've yet to buy a stirrup pump! As for Watson saying
'Except it's taking something that isn't yours", how prissy can one
be? We have already established that the EA allows it up to 20 cubic
meters a day!

I'll have you know I was Mr Prissy 1969. Enough of yer cheek.

--
Brian
"Anyway, if you have been, thanks for listening."