***** This thread is now closed, please CLICK HERE to go to Volume 6 *****
Volume 5 as the water butt of life leaks away silently onto the patio of destiny.
Volume 1 is here
Volume 2 is here
Volume 3 is here
Volume 4 is here
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 24 Apr 12 at 10:31
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www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17622837
The list of shame - disgraceful for what they charge and their self righteous bleating about saving water.
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No Ban here. The well is fully charged too.
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>>The well is fully charged too<<
Same ere with the bore ole, although I have heard (and come across) peeps with dried up wells (maybe bore holes) when we lived up on Bodmin Moor, most unusual though I should imagine.
I was speaking to my brother the other week (the one with Alzheimers) and he said if my 'well' should dry up in due to the drought conditions, I can call on the Fire brigade to come and replenish it.
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Having got a water meter and bills going back nine years, I'll be interested to see whether the hosepipe ban results in a significant reduction in our water usage.
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My sister in sowf lunden reckons when they fitted her water meter, they wired it up wrong so that it doesn't register water being used from her kitchen tap or the adjacent washing machine (she has verified this via the meter)
She also gets her electric via the horace batchelor method so she's doing quite well really.
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>> She also gets her electric via the horace batchelor method so she's doing quite well
>> really.
>>
Que?
Is that the K E Y N S H A M method? Sorry, showing my age and listening habits.
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Aye, The "Famous Infra-Draw Method".
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>> My sister in sowf lunden reckons when they fitted her water meter, they wired it
>> up wrong so that it doesn't register water being used from her kitchen tap or
>> the adjacent washing machine (she has verified this via the meter)
>>
Tis possible.
My daughters " conversion" upper top floor flat has no decernable ( without digging up floorborads) single mains water pipe entering her flat.
There was only one stopcock which was a little worrying.
Being honest, when they came to install the water meters, one is on the pipe to the kitchen sink and the other is where to tank is.
The process of getting the meters installed was pathetic.
One of the meters was so poorly installed I demanded they return, rip out the installation and do it to a decent standard. The guy when then came was really really good and did a first class job.
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I wonder what percentage of the total domestic consumption of water (in a hosepipe ban area) is via hosepipes. I suspect that it's quite small. I accept Anglian Water's statement that "A hosepipe can use up to 1,000 litres of water in just one hour, which is more than the average household uses in an entire day.". However, Anglian Water doesn't put it into perspective by taking into account the percentage of households that actually use a hosepipe, nor how many hours per year on average each of those households use their hosepipe.
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I suspect the intense coverage of this is a softening up stategy for increasing the price we all pay per litre to enable the fixing of leaks.
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In the last 6 months we used just under 37000 litres of water (so 37 units). In that time I used to hosepipe once to give the garden a good watering a few weeks back.
If we had a ban here I cannot see us using much less water.
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In typical fashion, the sun has barely shone, and its rained every day since the hosepipe was ban was implemented.
You can't argue its not effective, but maybe not in the way intended.
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>> In the last 6 months we used just under 37000 litres of water (so 37
>> units). In that time I used to hosepipe once to give the garden a good
>> watering a few weeks back.
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>> If we had a ban here I cannot see us using much less water.
>>
In the last eight years our water usage has varied from 58 cu.m/year to 88 cu.m/year. Last year was 58 and 2008 was 88. Bearing in mind that sort of variation, I can't imagine that our usage for 2012 can be proved to have been affected by not using a hosepipe. In any case I only use a hosepipe for washing my car, and that doesn't happen very often!
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From expatforum.com/cyprus:
"Hi all!
In Swedish news they make a big business out of the news that the use of a hosepipe f.ex to wash a car now is banned in many places in UK. What is wrong with UK? Mostly it rain all the time when I am there and it is quite often".
:o}
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Heard on local radio up here in the north west beginning of last week:
The fountains in Trafalgar square are expected to run dry by the weekend. United Utilities report that reservoirs in the north west are still 90% full.
And the newsreader sounded very very smug.
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7 days without a dry day here.
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Tis areas like that I'd be a'looking for stone tools, flint, greenstone etc.,
I used to 'do' five reservoirs ere in Cornwall, gotta know what y'all looking for though or you'll walk straight past it,
This is where I found a beaut of a Mesolithic leaf arrow ead ~ g.co/maps/srp8d
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Plenty of rain here over last few days also cold.Lovely a week ago strange weather.
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Treat water like oil they're saying...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-17656317
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.........you mean put it in your sump?
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No, just annexe the parts of the world that have lots of the stuff.
Oh, we've already done that.
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>> No, just annexe the parts of the world that have lots of the stuff.
>>
>> Oh, we've already done that.
Thats us, we have lots of the stuff. We just store it in the wrong parts of the country.
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>>Thats us, we have lots of the stuff. We just store it in the wrong parts of the country.
Nope! - We store ours in the right part of the Country! ;-) You lot keep `Ole London from flooding by drinking Father Thames! - Eww! ;- )
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Anglian Water are considering buying surplus water from Severn Trent. tinyurl.com/crlssx6
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>> Anglian Water are considering buying surplus water from Severn Trent.
How are they going to fill the tankers if there is a hosepipe ban? Will take a longtime with buckets ;o)
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 11 Apr 12 at 09:50
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I wonder if the Yanks are trying their Haarp contrapcion again.You never know Dog.
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>>I wonder if the Yanks are trying their Haarp contrapcion again.You never know Dog<<
Mmm - that's a new one to me Dutchie, I'll have to check it out!
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Well, I connected up my hose, which lies along the grass edge and then turned it on to wash out the two bird baths and fill them up using the same amount of water, had I humped two plastic watering cans up the garden - felt mildy quilty, that's all. Didn't waste water but anyway am saving water by only having three showers/week as is the norm.
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Lots of showers here today got soaking wet getting shopping into our house.
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Have a stream running through the garden, that comes directly off Dartmoor..and.. a few days back a mate popped round and being nosy had a mooch around my new garden...and found a well that we didn't know existed. Managed to prise a cover off it and it goes down about 35 - 40 feet, with a few feet of water at the bottom. He couldn't believe it as he paid about 7 grand for a bore hole on his property, to have his own supply.. and there I have one waiting to go.
Whoever rough carved that well out had some hard work to do, it looks hand done.
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>> Have you got a cat....?
>>
Yeah, fair do's. I was trying not to sound like that.
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>> at the bottom. He couldn't believe it as he paid about 7 grand for a
>> bore hole on his property, to have his own supply.. and there I have one
>> waiting to go.
Right get cracking, we want a dry stone wall round it, thatched peak roof over the top, wooden winch, bucket, gnome by the side, The full works in fact.
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...and something to catch the coins people throw into it. Could be a nice little earner.
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Build a shed, open a tea shoppe.
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Start a Cat disposal service!
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>> Right get cracking, we want a dry stone wall round it, thatched peak roof over
>> the top, wooden winch, bucket, gnome by the side, The full works in fact.
>>
How about a glass lid and a light down it?
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>> How about a glass lid and a light down it?
You could do something like this. Be sure to wear your extra strong corsets before watching, lest your sides split.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF9Cb8yMcWA
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Hey the big hunk was the Green Cross Man!!
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I thought it was Humph for a minute !
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Nah, there was no fag in his hand or a mangy mutt puking up his leg.
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Someone said you can use an irrigation system. Next door has one, lots of micropipes running along his borders. It's on timers and runs for hours. Don't see why they're allowed...?
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We had a wee stream running through our garden when we lived in the Scottish Borders. A tributary of the Tweed eventually. Our house, in a past life, used to be a grain mill and had at one time had a waterwheel to drive the machinery so there was a mill lade through the land. I built a balcony thing at first floor level round two sides ( in fact we'd bought the thing as a derelict so I built lots of things really ! ) and on summer's evenings I'd sit on the balcony with a glass of something in the late northern sunset and fish. Never caught much but it was very relaxing. Very occasionally we'd see a salmon which had lost its way. One year we had a family of otters to stay with us. In the winter, deer would come down off the hills ( in fairness even the house was 1200 feet above sea level ) and could sometimes be found in the garden scratching about for something to eat. Across the road was a very simple but very friendly little country pub. The meeting point for the Scottish vintage Bentley owners club by the by. In the outhouse was my Westfield and we were surrounded by empty hill roads just crying out for such a thing.
God I miss Scotland...There wasn't much "mock" about it.
:-)
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>> God I miss Scotland...There wasn't much "mock" about it.
>>
>> :-)
>>
Don't worry Humph, I'll look after it untill you get back, there still isn't any "mock" (apart from the twee tartan tat that the tourists buy). :-)
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>> We had a wee stream running through our garden
Yes. I've had a few of those too.
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We're supplied by Anglian Water. Can we use a hosepipe (with a shut-off valve at the outlet end) attached to an outside tap to fill a watering can so that we don't have to walk so far back to the tap to refill the can? Effectively all we would be doing would be moving the location of the outside tap. Here are Anglian Water's rules. tinyurl.com/crq4buc What is your interpretation of the rules regarding what we'd like to do?
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L'Es,
I'd have said you're barred from using a hose as described though one would hope they'd have the common sense not to prosecute if that was really all that was being done.
Can you use a hose to feed a proper tap mounted on (say) a fence post.
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Yesterday I put 11 watering cans-full of weed killer on the drive the hard way, by carrying them from the tap at the back of the house to the drive at the front.
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Yes, but this morning you can rub your aching back and then polish your halo L'es!
Why didn't you do it before the ban started:)
Pat
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>> Why didn't you do it before the ban started:)
Why didn't I wash my car as well before the ban started? Because I'm dilatory, that's why!
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>>Because I'm dilatory, that's why!<<
A laggard!
:o}
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>> >>Because I'm dilatory, that's why!<<
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>> A laggard!
A laggard blaggard!
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>> Why didn't you do it before the ban started:)
Or when it was dark?
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>> Yesterday I put 11 watering cans-full of weed killer on the drive the hard way,
>> by carrying them from the tap at the back of the house to the drive
>> at the front.
>>
I never apply these weed killers according to the instruction but instead fill my Hozelock 'Killaspray' with said materials and then pressurise it and sort of spot spray all the weeds or their seedlings - far less wasteful of those expensive chemicals. Mind you, you've got to fork out on a Killaspray if you haven't got one.
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>> weeds or their seedlings - far less wasteful of those expensive chemicals. Mind you, you've
>> got to fork out on a Killaspray if you haven't got one.
agreed, and there are cheaper versions of the sprayer not from hozelok. Thats the method I use.
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>> I never apply these weed killers according to the instruction but instead fill my Hozelock
>> 'Killaspray' with said materials and then pressurise it and sort of spot spray all the
>> weeds or their seedlings - ..........
It's a block-paved drive and weeds grow in every little crack. To cover the whole of the drive with a sprayer would take an eternity, and the spray would drift onto neighbouring things.
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>> >> I never apply these weed killers according to the instruction but instead fill my
>> Hozelock
>> >> 'Killaspray' with said materials and then pressurise it and sort of spot spray all
>> the
>> >> weeds or their seedlings - ..........
>>
>> It's a block-paved drive and weeds grow in every little crack. To cover the whole
>> of the drive with a sprayer would take an eternity, and the spray would drift
>> onto neighbouring things.
>>
Mine's block paved and yes it does take a bit of time but a watering can goes no where as liguid pours out of a rose head and is very wasteful. Of course, your driveway may be much larger than mine (which can easily park three to four medium sized cars).
You adjust the spray head to be less fine and hold the spray no more than, say, 6" from the blocks. Obviously the chemical manufacturers would like what I do as I don't need to buy their products so often.
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The easy way is to get a "Weed killer bar" and put it on your watering can
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I don't use weedkillers in our garden.
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Why do peeps have these ere blimmin block drives I wonder (blockheads?)
My previous driveway was common concrete, might not have looked fine & dandy like his next door,
But it was weed free (apart from me) and didn't ice up like wot his did :)
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From my skin n' blister in sowf lunden ...
"I am sitting here with 2 jumpers on and there is a massive thunderstorm
going on outside.
Ever since the hosepipe ban it hasn't stopped raining.
Reminds me of 1976 when a Minister for Drought was appointed and it was
followed by floods".
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where does darn sarf get their water from? im in the midlands we get our watter from derbyshire i think
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Thames + reservoirs innit.
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Ah! 1976, I remember it well! - t`was a good year for Cleggs (Horse-flies) I was eaten alive Hay-timing! - don`t remember floods tho`??
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Even more rain next week, especially in the West
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>>Even more rain next week, especially in the West<<
Bring it on (good for my borehole!)
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yeah 1976, im sure i saw on the news some guy frying an egg on the bonnet of a black cab
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Hmm
My run today was mud, mud and more mud...
All our reservoirs are full (Peak District ), our rivers are full and ground is sodden after 13 days with rain every day (plus snow , hail and thunder to break the monotony)...
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Could you send a bit more wet a few miles slightly north-east of where you are? (Where North Notts/Derbyshire and South Yorks. meet)
Our rain has been fitful here.
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www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17690389
Official drought zones have been declared in a further 17 English counties, as a warning came that water shortages could last until Christmas.
The Midlands region covers Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.
The South West region covers Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, South Gloucestershire, parts of Hampshire and most of Wiltshire.
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We moved in here 12 months ago - our metered rate was set at a 30 pound per month rate. Had our meter read on Friday last - bill today - we're a 148 pounds in credit. We're not light users btw. So works out at around 18 pounds per month - bargain !
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Wanna borrow a couple of teenage girls for a month and give the meter some exercise?
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And they`ve had all that interest! - x by xxxx amount of customers, a nice little earner!!
On the same lines I have a pension that pays xxx a month, I was informed that from the 2nd April this would rise by £6pm. Imagine my surprise when i discovered that the April installment (due on the 2nd) had actually been paid early on the 29th March, to gain an extra month!! - how much did they gain from this ploy?
Another nice little earner for nothing! - but i made sure i got mine paid!!!
Last edited by: devonite on Fri 20 Apr 12 at 01:28
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>> And they`ve had all that interest! - x by xxxx amount of customers, a nice
>> little earner!!
When you move house and pay for your water by monthly direct debit, the water authority for you new property can but estimate what your consumption will be and then set your monthly payment accordingly for the first year. This is what they've done for R.P. I see nothing wrong.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Fri 20 Apr 12 at 07:02
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I understand that L'es - still it's a bargain !
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>> I understand that L'es - ..........
I know you do. I was replying to devonite.
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>> ......... as a warning
>> came that water shortages could last until Christmas.
We never have to water our garden so the biggest effect will be that I won't feel inclined to wash our car so often. Yay!
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We have had a hosepipe ban for about 2 weeks. I have just driven home through floods in several places.
This must be the wettest drought since records began.
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Rain so heavy in thunderstorm near Boston this afternoon that I pulled off the road as wipers couldn't cope.
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luvly and sunny, warm and dry, has been for about a week now up here! - if its our turn for the drought, we got our water sorted! ;-)
As they say "up here for thinking"!
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Its rained every day here since the ban was announced
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Same here.Makes no difference according to the experts.Constant rain needed for months.Tell that to the villagers of Pocklington, town flooded the other day.
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My water-supply/electrical generator is doing nicely.
Using only 40,000 litres of water per day I'm making 6 kWh of electric.
Thinik I'll phone the water company and see if I can claim a feed-in tariff for the power I'm generating.
Might be able to fill a tanker with the 'waste' water and sell it dan sarf too.
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Only 40 tonne a day? You might need to use more bathwater.
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For some reason I haven't worked out yet, if I have a bath then feed the bathwater through the generator the total per day is 40,001 litres.
Must be magic.
Last edited by: Lygonos on Fri 20 Apr 12 at 23:33
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>> then feed the bathwater through the generator the total per day is 40,001 litres.
Is the generator or the readout of foreign manufacture by any chance? Those foreigners put commas where real people put decimal points (or full stops these days because the decimal point or bouncing full stop is unavailable on any keyboard I can remember. No doubt it's available in some roundabout mode but I can't be bothered to find it).
Just a thought. I've been irritated by the French decimal comma for what feels like eternity.
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>> No doubt it's available in some roundabout mode but I can't be bothered to find it).
It was so easy that I did, right there in my permanent accents/funny signs thingy. One (British) gallon is roughly equivelent to 4⋅546 litres.
Heh heh... forgive me but I'm lousy at this stuff.
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>> One (British) gallon is roughly equivelent to 4⋅546 litres.
1 litre is 0.22 (British) gallons exactly. Mental arithmetic stuff!
Last edited by: L'escargot on Sat 21 Apr 12 at 09:29
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>> the decimal point or bouncing full stop is unavailable on any keyboard I can remember.
It should be alt+0183, but nothing happens!
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>> >> the decimal point or bouncing full stop is unavailable on any keyboard I can
>> remember.
It's in Character Map. I've got it as an icon on my desktop.
tinyurl.com/3snxoey
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>> Just a thought. I've been irritated by the French decimal comma for what feels like
>> eternity.
>>
Zut alors et sacré bleu! Don't blame it all on us! tinyurl.com/4o97vru
Last edited by: L'escargot on Sat 21 Apr 12 at 09:45
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>> as wipers couldn't cope.
Not even on the high speed setting?
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"Not even on the high speed setting?"
I felt it safer to stop than press on with extremely limited visibility.
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Heavy showers every day for a fortnight. Thumbles of runder right now!!!!
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It was sunny here until Mrs F and son went off to play tennis. Cue downpour, with thunder and lightning.
Sun out again now though.
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The last 2 weekends my local Tesco have employed someone to clean the car parks and garage forecourt with pressure hoses. All done late at night under floodlight.
In daylight the car parks and garage forecourt look exactly the same as before. Oil stains everywhere, and skid marks from the barry boys doing doughnuts in their Saxo's and the like.
So much for Tesco taking notice of the hosepipe ban and using up Thames Water's ever diminishing supplies.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 23 Apr 12 at 00:35
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>>
>> So much for Tesco taking notice of the hosepipe ban and using up Thames Water's
>> ever diminishing supplies.
>>
Tesco = Commercial, therefore no hosepipe ban
No hosepipe bans in Scotland but plenty leaks.
I reported one last summer - engineer could not locate it and phoned for details............he phoned back complaining it was only a small leak.................my retort was it would not get better on it's own and anyway a scheduled repair in good summer weather was much better than an emergency repair in the depths of winter.............he conceded that point. Still iIt took 3 x days to fix, so no small job.
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Hosepipe Ban Volume 4. - R.P.