Hosepipe ban - how do I wash my car now?

I think they are required to recycle their water so are probably are exempt in some way.

(12-03-2012 08:19pm)cjfp Wrote:  I think they are required to recycle their water so are probably are exempt in some way.

I can't see many of them using recycled water given how quickly they appear/disappear & how they are run & by who!

I am exempt as I rang the Water Company today.

My error, misread original post / question and I now disagree with my own post!

(12-03-2012 08:52pm)The Valeter Wrote:  I am exempt as I rang the Water Company today.

So if you travel out to a customer... whose water do you use?
Do you carry a tank with you on the van? or do you use the customers water?
And if the latter is it not still banned?... and if not, then are we not just paying extra to have someone else use our own water supply? lol

(genuine questions, not trolling )

(13-03-2012 09:35am)RacingSnake Wrote:  So if you travel out to a customer... whose water do you use?
Do you carry a tank with you on the van? or do you use the customers water?
And if the latter is it not still banned?... and if not, then are we not just paying extra to have someone else use our own water supply? lol

(genuine questions, not trolling )

The vans I've seen have their own tanks of water on board.

I know when I worked for logica, the valeter used to turn up in his van, but hook up a hose to a water outlet outside the building. maybe just being 'economical'

(13-03-2012 09:35am)RacingSnake Wrote:  So if you travel out to a customer... whose water do you use?
Do you carry a tank with you on the van? or do you use the customers water?
And if the latter is it not still banned?... and if not, then are we not just paying extra to have someone else use our own water supply? lol
(genuine questions, not trolling )

I am allowed to use the customers water supply as I am using it commercially. If you use it as I do with a trigger on the gun then not excessive water is used. I don't carry water on my vehicle/s as it can make insurance more expensive due to the weight etc & means I would also have to drive a boring normal van & I like to be different.
Probably about 50% of valeters use water tanks but you are stuch with things like Transits & dull French crap if you need the large space & weight capacity.

(13-03-2012 10:19am)The Valeter Wrote:  I am allowed to use the customers water supply as I am using it commercially.

I'm not sure this sits comfortably with me actually.
Because in essence, I am paying for the water, and then am paying for someone else to wash my car purely to circumnavigate the hosepipe ban

(I mean this in no-way personally at all! just seems a bit hypocritical (of the water authorities - who should be concentrating on their millions of litres worth of leaking water).

---

Interesting:

Quote:Hosepipe bans, officially called Temporary Use Bans, ban 11 things in the home:

watering a garden using a hosepipe
cleaning a car using a hosepipe
watering plants using a hosepipe
cleaning a private leisure boat using a hosepipe
filling or maintaining a swimming or paddling pool
drawing water with a hosepipe for "recreational use"
filling or maintaining a domestic pond using a hosepipe
filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain
cleaning walls or windows with a hosepipe
cleaning paths or patios with a hosepipe
cleaning other artificial outdoor surfaces using a hosepipe.
People found breaching the terms of the ban risk being prosecuted and fined up to £1,000.

There are a few exemptions - to protect the infirm, for instance - and people can contact their water company before the bans come into force if they think they should be exempt.

Customers can still water their gardens if they use a watering can and not a hose, and can still clean their cars with a bucket.

So we can still wash cars/water gardens but my water feature(s) have to run dry

and an official excerpt:
where *= Water treated to drinkable standards.

Quote:Temporary Use Ban Notice:
Section 76 Water Industry Act 1991
Thames Water Utilities Limited gives notice to all of its customers, that the potable* water it supplies throughout its entire area must NOT be used for the following purposes:
1. watering a ‘garden’ using a hosepipe;
2. cleaning a private motor-vehicle using a hosepipe;
3. watering plants on domestic or other noncommercial premises using a hosepipe;
4. cleaning a private leisure boat using a hosepipe;
5. filling or maintaining a domestic swimming or paddling pool;
6. drawing water, using a hosepipe, for domestic recreational use;
7. filling or maintaining a domestic pond using a hosepipe;
8. filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain;
9. cleaning walls, or windows, of domestic premises using a hosepipe;
10. cleaning paths or patios using a hosepipe;
11. cleaning other artificial outdoor surfaces using a hosepipe.

Definition of a garden
A “garden” includes all of the following: a park; gardens open to the public; a lawn; a grass verge; an area of grass used for sport or recreation; an allotment garden, as defined in section 22 of the Allotments Act 1922; any area of an allotment used for non-commercial purposes; and any other green space.

Exemptions
The following will be exempted from the restriction:
i) using a hosepipe in a garden or for cleaning walls or windows of domestic premises, paths or patios, a private leisure boat or an artificial outdoor surface, where such use is necessary for health and safety reasons.
ii) watering a garden attached to a domestic dwelling or watering plants on domestic premises using a hosepipe, by people with severe mobility problems who hold a current Blue Badge as issued by their local authority.
iii) using a hosepipe to clean a private motor vehicle, or walls and windows of domestic premises, where this is done as a service to customers in the course of a business.
iv) using a hosepipe to water an area of grass or artificial outdoor surfaces used for sport or recreation, where this is required in connection with a national or international sports event.
v) drip or trickle irrigation watering systems, fitted with a pressure reducing valve and a timer, that are not handheld, that place water drip by drip directly onto the soil surface or beneath the soil surface, without any surface run off or dispersion of water through the air using a jet or mist.

Representations
Representations about this notice may be made in writing to the Public Consultations team, 2nd East, Thames Water, Clearwater Court, Vastern Road, Reading RG1 8DB, or by email to consultations@thameswater.co.uk Representations must be received before the end of 21 March 2012.
If, as a result of such representations, any terms of the prohibition are varied, a further notice will be published. The restriction will come into force at midnight on 4 April 2012 and will remain in force until further notice.
It is an offence to contravene this prohibition.
The maximum penalty for each offence is £1,000.

I have highlighted the bits in bold for dramatic effect... particularly the bit about disabled blue badge exemption? Why? seriously though, WTF?

Possibly because they could not carry a watering can?