Outdoor water-use restriction

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An outdoor water-use restriction is a ban or other lesser restrictions put into effect that restricts the outdoor use of water supplies. Often called a watering ban or hosepipe ban, it can affect:

irrigation of lawns
car washing
recreational uses such as filling swimming pools and using water slides
planting or grass or control of the types of grass planted
hosing down pavement areas

Such bans may be put in place by local governments, or by a state government. In the latter case, local authorities often still can enact more restrictive restrictions.

Such a ban is usually enacted during droughts, to preserve water for essential uses such as drinking and flushing toilets, as well as for firefighting. If there is a water main break, or a problem with a water tower or other reservoir, a ban may be enacted on a very local and temporary basis. Bans that control water and plant uses can be permanent.

Violation of such restrictions usually brings a warning at first, then a fine, and finally the cutoff of the water to the home or business if it continues. Enforcement is generally by the local water authority or even from police.

Businesses that use water as a critical part of their operations are usually not exempt. This includes car wash, plant nurseries, and other landscaping companies. A typical restriction on a car wash would be to recycle the water.

Typical restrictions include:

the "odd/even" system, whereby odd-numbered addresses water on odd-numbered dates, and even-numbered ones on even-numbered dates
There are also day-based restrictions where water use is restricted to specific days of the week
time restrictions based on the hour of the day. Usage may be prohibited from noon or late morning until late afternoon or evening. This is the time of day, when much of the spray is lost to evaporation.

The use of drip irrigation systems may or may not be exempt from the restrictions, or be less restricted than normal water sprinklers. Using native vegetation, such as xeriscaping in desert locations, avoids having to water in the first place. Using greywater or stored runoff from a roof gutter downspout is also an alternative for trees and shrubs, but not for large expanses of grass, which would be difficult to cover.

1 Countries
- 1.1 England
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Countries

[edit] England

A hosepipe ban is a British term for a water restriction placed on the customers of a water company to prevent them from using hosepipes, particularly for watering their gardens. The provider sometimes states that their customers are not allowed to use a sprinkler or unattended hosepipe for a few days (or longer), though commonly a total ban is enacted. Commercial customers are usually exempt in order to prevent loss of earnings or other such problems.^{[citation needed]}

The water industry usually places such restrictions on their customers during droughts or when the reservoirs supplying the water are becoming empty.

Customers that ignore the ban are usually warned and, in the UK, can face a fine of up to £1000. This power was given to the companies by the Water Industry Act 1991.

[edit] See also

Water restrictions in Australia

[edit] References

[edit] External links

This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations.
You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations.