Water

I have another great advantage in that I have either a small lake or a large pond depending upon your view and it has the benefit of being fed from multiple springs with water, which when tested, was found to be drinkable and of far better quality then tap water and this gives me on demand water and as for hosepipe bans, NAH.

During the hot weather we have been filling a water bowser from my lake and spraying the surrounding areas to prevent fires during the hot weather and also to fill up residents water butts so they have water for their crops and this is helping put us out of reach of many of the current scams by being able to grow food, generate our own electricity and by us all having log burners and plenty of ready wood and home made logs from waste products. Contrary to what some may think the cow muck in our home made logs doesn’t smell and it burns well.

We have all heard the experts, so what are experts? Ex is something that has been and a spurt us a drip under pressure, and laugh, I nearly spent some money and my favourite was to wash your car on your lawn and I howled when I heard that as it assumes many things and can only be the assumption of a profound idiot in assuming everyone has a lawn and that everyone can drive their car onto it.

Water shortages come down to many things and while Southern England are always the first to announce water shortages there are many things to look at, and why these occur; and why shareholders profits are always put before customers and critical infrastructure investment. In London for example there is a very high population density and this has come about by building everywhere and a popular example would be the purchase of a family house with reasonable grounds for its day and this would generally be pre war and just post war and these were family homes with enough land to grow crops. This would traditionally be a family and it served one family and if we assume two parents and three children it would be 5 people in one home, these are being knocked down and multi floor buildings with multi occupancy are replacing them and in one example it was a 7 storey building with 4 flats per floor. Each flat will require water for toilets and for washing up and water for the usual domestic appliances and these have changed from 1 house to 28 flats all working into a system often built a hundred years ago and with the resulting businesses also increase to serve these additional people and their increased usages. This doesn’t apply just to water as it applies to all critical infrastructure such as gas or electricity and they all fail to upgrade their systems to supply the demand.

Question! Do we have a water shortage? Well ask yourself another question and it is why are we having droughts every summer and flooding every winter with hundreds of acres of land underwater and rivers bursting their banks, yet we still have droughts. Quite simply we have enough water especially compared to many other countries, but they manage their water more efficiently because they have a limited supply of it unlike us who don’t really manage it and still fob the public off with their claimed abilities of being able to manage our water. What we lack are storage facilities because this means investments and investments hit the shareholders dividends and remember their dividends rank higher than the paying customers who are paying their huge dividends.

If they cannot manage our water correctly then we have to do it ourselves and if we use less water and have a water meter it makes them less profit, if we don’t have a water meter we can still reduce our water usage from a domestic supply and this does actually have benefits especially if you garden as all crops need water and container growers need this regularly and consistently.
We need to evaluate our circumstances and work from there and if we can collect water it can be from a number of surprising sources and if we can use it more than once it will definitely be a bonus and some potential methods of saving water can be remarkable easy and not border on the insanity posted in the media.
Now we can begin splitting our water usage and this would begin with the question; what do we need tap water (potable water) for and what can we use grey water for and what can we recycle water for and use it again the answers are remarkably simple once again. Potable water would be used for drinking and washing people, clothing, and pots in and by being resourceful we can reduce the amount we use.
If we look at washing then simply waiting until we have a full sink of pots or a washing machine full of clothes is a good start and if this means washing pots once a day it also means using less water and if we have dirty plates then simply scraping off the food and wiping them with a paper towel removes much of the wasted food left on the plate and reduces the amount of water and washing up liquid used. I used to do a lot of off roading and only had the water we carried and this was finite and monitored carefully and simply wiping the plates kept water consumption down by a significant amount.
Our best route would be to gather water and store it and if we get our gardening water by diverting guttering from buildings straight into a water butt we have a constant supply of water and if we think a little and add a series of water butts and connect them together we suddenly have a lot of water storage. I would suggest getting several water butts and connecting them together using plastic push fit pipe as the connectors can be bought to fit the water butt and once a hole is drilled the connectors are simply screwed into position and tightened up and pipe is cut to length and pushed into the connectors to connect two or more barrels together and I prefer the two pipe system. This works by placing the barrels on a flat surface and marking the barrels and I measure the barrel height and fit by first pipe around 20% from the bottom as this allows the barrels to have a sump so any solids can drop to the bottom of the barrel and not contaminate our stored water. Our second pipe is installed around 75% from the bottom and this is for good reason, in normal rains the water will run into our barrel and once it reaches 20% height it will begin running into our second barrel and once this reaches 20% capacity it will run into our third barrel and this will continue with all our barrels. In total downpour conditions the rain will fall so quickly it will swamp our first barrel and the second pipe will give it more flowing capacity and simply fill all our barrels quicker and we catch more of the falling rain.
We can take this a step further and mount out barrels and to do this we can build brick pillars and put sturdy timbers across the top and mount them high enough so our watering can is below the height of the barrels and if we install a tap in a barrel at the end we can quickly and easily access our water to fill our watering cans but we also have to consider the weight. In simple terms 1 Litre of water weighs 1Kg and if our water barrels hold 200 litres then they weigh 200Kg each, hence the sturdy brick pillars and substantial timbers as 5 barrels weigh 1 tonne in our equation.

We can possibly recycle water and this is reasonably simple for most people to do and I would suggest checking to see if your waste pipes from your sink and potentially your washing machine are push fit pipes and if they are they can be slightly modified. All you do is remove the plastic clips holding the pipes to the wall and turn the pipe up slightly so you can put a bucket underneath it and you catch all your waste sink pot washing water and your washing machine water and while this may require a little effort it guarantees your water and soapy water is fine for watering plants. If you allocate a single water butt purely for soapy waste water then you can take this a little further and install a cloth filter across your water butt and as you tip your soapy water you have caught into your water butt the filter will filter out any solids and you will have soapy water in your water butt.
To make your filter you need some cloth and this must be natural cloth such as cotton and it must be large enough to cover your barrel and should sag in the middle, you can use the original lid band if your water butt had one or you can tie this cloth into position and as you pour your water through it the filtration begins, any solids can be put onto your compost heap or into the bin and the filter replaced. If you are an organic gardener then you are doing what you normally do as soapy water is one of the basic organic gardening tricks to deter many pests.

If you don’t have any outbuildings you can connect guttering to and if your house has space you can use your house downpipe in many cases and as long as you have some intermediate DIY skills you should be able to do this as you install storage into your guttering downpipe and catch the huge volumes of water running off your house roof. Some manufacturers now do diversion kits which fit the downpipe and you install this diverter into your downpipe and run additional pipes to your water butt and simply pull the diverter so the water fills your water butts and you can connect multiple water butts together if required to increase your water storage capacity during rains.

If you have the space and willingness you can measure your ground and particularly your drain levels as you can install permanent water storage tanks underground and divert your down pipes straight into them and a pipe out of it so when its full the water runs into your drains as it did before and it simply runs through your tank so you catch it all and have maximum water storage capacity at all times. I have done several of these installations and you need to consider several things, is your storage tank large enough for you to need to access it for regular cleaning and can you modify it to give yourself an access point and install a drainage pump to pump it out sufficiently for you to remove any accumulated sludge in the bottom of the tank.

Which Container

What containers can you use? In reality anything which holds water and in recent times there has been an explosion in the water butts you can buy and these are designed for profits and with more people buying them the manufacturers original side-line is now a stand alone profitable venture. In reality though many people use containers they can get from work or those others can get from work which are generally free and this free element allows money to be better spent on fittings such as couplers for push fit pipes to connect them together and increase your water storage capacity and to buy taps to fit the barrels and ideally if you have multiple barrels connected together I would suggest two taps, one for the first and last barrels on a run. If you draw water from one end and it gets dirty you can draw from the other tap and clean your first barrel out.
Shape is important and traditionally most barrels were round and often came with lids and the lids are important as they help prevent water evaporation in hot periods and they prevent vermin and other animals looking to get a drink and falling in to your water container and drowning, mice and rats are particularly problematic for this.
Times move on and containers have evolved from the familiar round containers to the more space efficient square containers as they are easier to load and transport and you are carrying a full load instead of some load and a lot of air and air doesn’t pay the transport costs. Obtaining these square containers would be a better and more space efficient use of storing water and as many are plastic it means almost anyone can drill them for taps or push fit pipe fittings with nothing more than a basic cordless drill and a hole cutter set and very basic knowledge and marking out skills.

My preferred types of containers are the IBC containers as they are polyethylene containers in a sturdy wire mesh frame which means they can be lifted by a forklift and can of course be stacked on top of each other which makes them ideal for water storage from a roof as many come with tap holes ranging from 1-2” BSP meaning a standard commercial tap can be installed. Many come in different shapes and styles and the most popular are the 1000 litre containers with the large filling hole which means you can easily get your hands and other things inside which makes them easy to clean and drain if the material they carried is unknown or is difficult to clean I regularly see people with degreasers or mops inside them cleaning them out and as they come in food grades these are sought after by gardeners for water storage as often they are concentrates which can be diluted with water for cleaning.

1000 Litre IBC containers give a large storage capacity for a relatively small footprint of 1M2 and at 2 M high you can stack one on top of the other and have 2000 litres of stored water which should be sufficient water for an average garden for several days and if you double them up and have two stacks you can have 4000 litres of stored water which should be fine for larger gardens. You have a choice of connections so you can connect them together and the simplest would be the ½” bulkhead plumbing fitting with the 90° bend fitted on top of your lower barrel and a piece of hosepipe connected, this is then attached to the tap of your upper container and don’t forget to TURN THE TAP ON so water will flow from the upper to lower container.
You could go full tap connector and use the flexible tap connectors which usually have one end at 3/8”, ½”, or ¾” BSP at one end and either 15 or 22mm compression fittings at the other and if you screw a reducer into your tap hole with either a 15 or 22mm copper pipe fitting you fasten the compression fitting to this and use a bulkhead fitting to the lower container and simply screw the other end of your tap connector to this.

One thing to note is that you need to mount your IBC containers high enough to get your watering can under or if you use a short hose to water your garden that your containers are high enough to allow the water to flow as it doesn’t flow uphill and this is why men get splashed feet and not splashed foreheads.

If you buy a diverter kit you usually get either square line or round line pipe and they are either square or round and if you have square line it will usually have an adapter from square to round pipe where this enters your water containers and it is crucial to get this connection right. I usually place the adapter right over the lid of the container as the round piece generally has a spigot which is solvent welded to the round pipe and its flange is to stop the round pipe from falling into your container You carefully cut the correct sized hole in your lid and slide the round pipe in your lid and the flanged spigot prevents it falling in and the lid also acts as a support for the pipe.

One other word of advice would be to keep as much light as you can out of your containers as light allows things to grow and if you leave your containers uncovered and exposed to light you end up with a water garden inside them.

Dealing With Plants

In times of drought you have to make hard choices and these are worse if the majority of your crops are foods as no water means no food and this is where choices have to be made. Grass looks dead and lifeless but recovers remarkably quickly so any lawns can be ignored as they will soon return with some rain.

If you have plants in pots or containers and the compost goes straight to the bottom of the pot then you can make a watering bed from waste materials and I will cite my example from the greenhouse staging I have in my large poly tunnel as this explains the principles which people can modify to suit themselves. You begin with a tray and my staging has trays, many are just folded and need their corners sealing up and mine were aluminium so I TIG welded them shut but you can hammer them closed and abrade and seal with epoxy glue or be even more creative as you only need them water tight.
You gather all your old clothes and any made from natural fibres will do and cotton is the best to old jeans and cotton Tee shirts are ideal as they can be cut into strips around 3” (75mm) wide as these absorb water and become wicks and are laid randomly in your tray to around 3-4 layers deep and you sit your pots on them. You take a bucket of water and set it so the water level is slightly lower than your tray and take three pieces of your material and twist them together loosely and put one end under your loose layers in your tray and the other end into your bucket and into the water and within minutes it will suck up enough water to water your pots from the bottom.

In the same vein you can do something similar to water your containers and if you put a tray under them before watering and leave them through the hot summers, you water your containers until water runs out into the trays and stop watering and your compost will be moistened by the water in the trays and you have minimised your water use.
In the choices category you have to select which crops to save and which to let die and if you have your tomatoes in full flower you would water them instead of your lettuces which cost far less an consume more water when they are growing. Do you save your flowers over your vegetables when the only flower you would eat is cauliflower and obviously your vegetables take priority over your flowers as they are only decorative and do not sustain you.

If you have a reasonable vegetable garden there are things you can do and a simple thing is to cut trenches between your rows of crops so you can limit your watering and if you water every day you can water every other trench and the water will dissipate underground. If you have lots of deep rooted crops you can water once a week and put lots of water down and let it soak deeply into the ground. Deep watering has benefits and the obvious one is that the surface water doesn’t evaporate and the less obvious one is that the deep water stays moist at the lower levels for days so you don’t need to water every day but it requires you to keep a closer eye on your plants. If they show signs of wilting you need to know if this is just the heat or lack of water and if you watch your plants and they recover then it is the heat, if they don’t recover and you surface water them and they recover it is water and possibly water combined with heat.

So work out what you will sacrifice and what costs the most and consumes the most water and it comes down to a fairly simple equation of cost V water consumption to give you your final conclusions.

If you have water storage solutions it adds flexibility as there is no reason why you cannot fill your containers with the hosepipe during the hot summer before any hosepipe ban takes effect and this way you are always at maximum water storage capacity to look after your garden for longer and the more storage you have the longer your garden will last and the more foods you can grow. Water storage is an evolution and there is no reason why you cannot add more water storage as you can afford it, or as you can collect more storage containers so you can add then to your system and increase your capacity.

Due to a duff knee i have containerised all my veg growing,so in this weather
i need to water twice a day. Looking on Anglia Waters web site i was somewhat
supprised that they are saying that due to the investments they have made
there will be no hosepipe bans and they dont expect any in the future.

That aside ,God gave man dominion over this planet and its resources .
Water does not belong to water companies ,they steal it from us and sell
it back. The same goes for gas and lecky, a point worth remembering with
what they have planned for this winter.

Check a site such as Affinity Water for reported leaks. You will see hundreds upon hundreds and within a relatively small area. Imagine the amount of water lost as a result. Investment in MAINTENANCE would prevent us ever needing hose pipe bans…

No doubt we are all being 'charged' for the failures inc' water leaks. But I ain't payin' out of my bank account - endorsement all the way

some wise words from Ceylon if you want to challenge water, watch next 2 mins in full & take note regarding your house:

https://odysee.com/@ceylon:1/...will-you-take-any-more-DEATH-JABS:f?r=GppJhcTh7gcV351GwwhngizkhvrBcstV&t=3018

more wise words from ceylon, watch till the end:

https://odysee.com/@ceylon:1/...do-you-really-want-FREEDOM:6?r=GppJhcTh7gcV351GwwhngizkhvrBcstV&t=3008