Wessex Water has just sent me an email saying there will be no more hosepipe use until there is enough rain.

So it will be cans and I'll start making a disposal collection of non-essential pots, starting with box plants. Will a skip be the next move perhaps? It will be the 60th day on the trot with no rainfall here tomorrow!

Which is interesting, as they're telling the media it's because their treatment equipment isn't sufficient to keep up with demand - the same as SE Water's ban a couple of months ago. The water companies' lack of investment as the population grows is coming back to bite them. I get the feeling they were hoping low-flush toilets and aerating taps would be enough offset the 13 million population rise in the last 40 years!

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/wessex-water-announces-first-hosepipe-ban-in-50-years/ar-AA2ahw3Q 

“But the prolonged and extreme dry weather has meant demand across our region has consistently remained at more than 400 million litres per day, 30 per cent above average for this time of year and the equivalent of almost half a million hosepipes running for a full hour every day.

“While we’re not running out of water for essential use, our challenge has been moving water through the network quickly enough to meet these record levels of demand.

“This also has an impact on our underground storage reservoirs, which normally replenish with treated water quickly.”

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/people/in-pictures-giant-boa-constrictor-pipe-travels-miles-to-pump-water-to-a31-fire-update-8913997 

Another person raised concerns over the lake and said: “They’ve been pumping so much water from the lake it has now dropped down by about three feet. It was only about 12 feet at its deepest point anyway. There are parts by the outside that are now only a couple of feet deep and some of the marine life will be affected.” 

Dorset Council decided the other day it might be wise to cut and remove all the dead grass on the verges in built-up areas the other day. For insurance reasons, I assume. The last trim was months ago, and quite a green thicket built up in June that's now ready to burn. Or was until they cut it. 

I've dropped it with a strimmer - leaving an aftermath of about 6". There are still lots of butterflies, moths and dragonflies needing a refuge. I noted quite a lot of Hedgehog poo the the uncut area, so it's still "in use". 🦋🐛🐝🐜🐞🕷

We had an influx of small black ants overnight in the kitchen. Maybe last night's brief rain gave them ideas above their station! 🐜🐜🐜

It poos outside the back gate where there is a hedgehog gap of the correct size, 13 cm x 13 cm. 

When I first noticed it in daylight, it had a binge feed and produced copious loose poo outside its house. Now it's garden-trained to poo outside the garden (sometimes). But now  its doorstep and surroundings are clean. It's learning.

Very unlikely the Council would ever pump fresh water into the river as it is nothing to do with them and not in their remit. In fact they could be fined by the EA I suspect for an illegal discharge. The flow of the river at Hogsmill more likely kept up from the effluent discharge from Hogsmill STW.

I always wonder who pay for the water to keep pumping up, I understand it good to keep the Bourne Hall lake up for the fish but the Hogmills river is very shallow with rocks so no chance for fish to swim, of if this dry up that fine.  There is one water work or something on Longmead Road had discharged sewage on a sunny day, I found out when i went walking along the river I notice brown dirty water at higher levels than normal. so I kept walking to track down where it coming from so walking from Green Lanes to Longmead Road until I saw the outpipe was there discharging it and was smelly.  They did for a day I think as next day back to normal and there a storm tank next to the old hogmill river that used to flow toward the Gun powder bridge stream that come from Ewell Court lake.  If we get so much rain the storm tank get full of water until to the top and overflow to the Hogmill river, that you see lot of panty liners, toliet papers, poo etc which some got stuck on the grated.  Hogmills river is nice to walk on it with wellies on as most are very shallow and few areas are deep that cannot walk through.

Here's the 24 hour accumulated rainfall via the NW radar - it has between 6 and 7mm here, and we had 6.4... so this time it seems accurate!

https://ukwct.org.uk/weather/radarx.jpg 

Not much, but it's a start.

Indeed that seems the most likely explanation. During this drought, I suspect many rivers and streams are running on water from STW's.

Someone didn't learn their 3 P's it seems. Sadly all to common these days. 

Sadly yes and many still throw in the toliet despite labels say to put in the bin.  I also remember once a big storm in 1996 July when i was in Canada that time, when i got back to see the park and the river, the field was covered in all dried up 3 P's as there s large sewage running under nearby trees and half of the triangle man hole cover was pop out and dropped to the edge of the concrete ledge for workmen to enter.  Lucky the cover did not fell to the raging sewage which must be a giant pipe but couldn't cope with the storm.   The field was smelly for a while until when they cut the grass it being cleared away with the cover recoverd and closed again.  That the only time it pop out during severe storms.   Hopefully no animal fell into the open half man hole cover which lasted for few weeks.  Quite common in the states with cover pop ups.

I recall an event in Manila when someone fell into a drinking water main. 

https://www.philstar.com/metro/2003/06/05/208865/145we-finally-got-him146 

Terrible to happen and there must be no grated cover to stop falling into it.

Me too.

Very.

It's easy to see the point IMO. My neighbour had a lush green lawn until the start of the hosepipe ban, because she would leave her garden sprinkler running for hours unattended. Since the hosepipe ban her lawn is starting to turn brown just like mine. Even she, obsessively house and garden proud though she is, can't be arsed to lug the necessary number of buckets of water down the garden to keep it looking lush.

Only 10 to go to equal the record.