Hosepipe bans and motorhomes

I use a hosepipe to fill the freshwater tank through a Whale system. It is the only way to get water into the tank.


In certain areas hosepipes are 'banned' and it seems likely such prohibitions on use will be extended. Water supply companies have powers to do so under s.36 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. Sub-section 2 (f) prohibits: "drawing water, using a hosepipe, for domestic recreational use" which appears to cover the filling of motorhome fresh water tanks.


The Act provides for certain exemptions and allows water companies to create their own exemptions if they wish. It should be noted that hosepipes are banned only for the purposes stated in the act, including for use in connection with the cleaning of private motor vehicles.


Southern Water, on their website, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
list statutory and discretionary exemptions from their bans on hosepipes. There are no exemptions for domestic recreational use. Note that a private motor vehicle does not include a goods vehicle, as defined in section 192 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 . S.192 defines a goods vehicle as one designed or adapted to carry goods or burden of any description, in other words, includes a motorhome.


So, if I understand the situation correctly, using a hosepipe at home to fill a freshwater tank is prohibited but washing a motorhome is not. To further complicate matters, I believe that if water is supplied through a hosepipe as part of a commercial operation i.e. on a campsite, the ban will not apply.

Any thoughts?

Fill it anyway, prob less than 100ltr, 3 or 4  loo flushes
Now if you were to get the sprinkler out and water the lawn twice a day, I'd report you!!!
Or bring it here, no hosepipe ban.....yet!!

IanH wrote:Fill it anyway, prob less than 100ltr, 3 or 4  loo flushes
Now if you were to get the sprinkler out and water the lawn twice a day, I'd report you!!!
Or bring it here, no hosepipe ban.....yet!!

The ban is on the use of hosepipes regardless of the quantity of water used.£1,000 fine for offenders caught using one unless an exemption applies.

Be careful on the reporting for lawn watering. There are exemptions for newly-laid lawns, Blue Badge Holders etc.

I've had problems filling my water tank at home because I can't get a hose through to the front of the house. Finally found a cheap long-spout watering can in Home Bargains and filled the tank using that. Then a back wheel fell off my van while driving, the tank pipe ruptured and I watched my hard-earned tank of water dribbling down the road while waiting for recovery (along with the brake fluid).

Not sure whether there are any lessons there .

Crashman wrote:
The ban is on the use of hosepipes regardless of the quantity of water used.

Maybe so, but the hosepipe ban does not ban every use of a hosepipe. The following FAQ (from SEW) gives examples of what is not allowed:

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Essentially it is about watering, cleaning and recreational use. I don't think that you could define drinking, cooking and personal hygiene as "recreational" so their examples do not seem to ban the filling of water tanks on motorhomes, boats or anything similar. You could always ask them if you are still in doubt.

Crashman wrote:I use a hosepipe to fill the freshwater tank through a Whale system. It is the only way to get water into the tank.
....

Any thoughts?

The Whale inlet socket should have two brass contacts to power an external Whale water pump that drops into a container that is filled from a tap.  If the purpose of the hosepipe ban is to make people use water more frugally, it can be argued that filling the tank in this way rather than using a hose will achieve this, just as it will if a watering can is used through a gravity filler cap or indeed to water the garden, which is still allowed.

When is a hosepipe not a hosepipe? In the distant past I used to fill our spa at the bottom of our garden using a 30m hosepipe from a tap by the garage. But when a hosepipe ban was threatened one year, I trenched in a plastic water pipe down the perimeter of the garden, connected to the garage feed, and fitted a tap to a post directly above the spa.
This is now much neater than a surface hose, but achieves exactly the same result..
Al.

The rules of a hosepipe ban. I'd have thought health & safety would cover use of a hosepipe to fill a MH tank.

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I'm not sure its healthier or safer to fill a MH tank with a hose than a container.  Hoses are less healthy due to the water that is permanently trapped in them and the difficulty in cleaning and sterilising them inside.  It could be argued that it's safer to use a hose (less chance of pulling a muscle) but this could also be applied to watering the garden with a hose rather than a watering can.

bikeralw wrote:When is a hosepipe not a hosepipe? In the distant past I used to fill our spa at the bottom of our garden using a 30m hosepipe from a tap by the garage. But when a hosepipe ban was threatened one year, I trenched in a plastic water pipe down the perimeter of the garden, connected to the garage feed, and fitted a tap to a post directly above the spa.
This is now much neater than a surface hose, but achieves exactly the same result..
Al.

I have a similar problem with my greenhouse's automatic watering system which I use when I'm away in the MH.  Its fed by a hose from the house's external tap.  If I plumbed it in permanently there would be no restriction on using it although I suppose the capillary tubes going to each pot could still be described as hoses.

Surely a MH should be treated like a paddling pool as both are recreational?  This would mean it's OK to fill them with a container but not a hose unless an exception is made for MHs.

 Exceptions include: 
"People who are paid for car washing, window cleaning and graffiti removal can still use hosepipes"


Looks like I'll just have to invoice Mrs B if I wash the van! 


Only kidding, by the way - I gave it a good clean and polish before leaving Berkshire  where there still is no hosepipe van and now we are in Scotland there's not one either - loads of rain forecast here in the next few days anyway so will let that soften the squashed bugs and bird poo we gathered on the journey before washing off by hand.


I am surprised that there is no exception for vegetables grown in gardens, especially at the moment with food prices going through the roof.


Note that if you are registered with the water comany's Priority Services Register (due to age, ill health, disability, mental health problems, financial worries or language barriers) then exemptions apply.

Caraman wrote:I'm not sure its healthier or safer to fill a MH tank with a hose than a container.  Hoses are less healthy due to the water that is permanently trapped in them and the difficulty in cleaning and sterilising them inside.  It could be argued that it's safer to use a hose (less chance of pulling a muscle) but this could also be applied to watering the garden with a hose rather than a watering can.

I thought of H&S in this instance as meaning you'd need the water in your tank to wash and, perhaps, cook/drink in order to stay healthy.  It's a very woolly guide.  

Caraman wrote:Surely a MH should be treated like a paddling pool as both are recreational?  This would mean it's OK to fill them with a container but not a hose unless an exception is made for MHs.

According to The Times:

"You can also fill the water tank of a motorhome with tap water using a hosepipe, as long as this water is then used for drinking, cooking and washing and not for any activity prohibited under the temporary use ban."

Also (I know this was in 2015 but came via a direct question to Thames Water):

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PS Just found some more info in response to specific questions to various water companies on this current thread, which seems to indicate that filling a motorhome fresh water tank with a hosepipe is allowed during any ban:


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] links to this site no longer allowed */threads/hosepipe-ban-and-filling-up-a-motorhome.91490/
Edit:      ↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑   well that's helpful!     You'll all have to G**gle it for yourselves.

I'll certainly be filling mine in a couple of weeks, no matter what. In any case, I probably use more water every single day at home, than the fresh water tank on the van can hold, so they should be thanking me for heading off for another month's trip.

Rogerblack's memory/research clears it up and I agree with v8oholic that staying at home will result in more water being used.  I've been holding off washing my MH until this hot sunny weather subsides but ideally I should get it done before our next trip at the end of the month, providing the hosepipe ban doesn't come into force in my area before then.

Caraman wrote:I'm not sure its healthier or safer to fill a MH tank with a hose than a container.  Hoses are less healthy due to the water that is permanently trapped in them and the difficulty in cleaning and sterilising them inside.  It could be argued that it's safer to use a hose (less chance of pulling a muscle) but this could also be applied to watering the garden with a hose rather than a watering can.

Pre hose pipe bans, we'd disconnect the garden hose from the tap and let a little run out. Then re-connect and turn on the tap. Once a (technical term) hoseful has passed down the hose you get a spluttering of air showing that the hose is now full of clean fresh water. Whilst this is happening the nearest plant gets a bonus.
However as we never drink any of the water in the tank it really doesn't matter to us what we put in it, within reason of course.
The water here in E Anglia is so ghastly we only drink bottled water in the house as well

On that subject, we only carry sparkling bottles water in the van, much more pleasant to drink and when boiled becomes totally "normal" water as the gas boils off long before the water boils.....

IanH wrote:

Caraman wrote:I'm not sure its healthier or safer to fill a MH tank with a hose than a container.  Hoses are less healthy due to the water that is permanently trapped in them and the difficulty in cleaning and sterilising them inside.  It could be argued that it's safer to use a hose (less chance of pulling a muscle) but this could also be applied to watering the garden with a hose rather than a watering can.

Pre hose pipe bans, we'd disconnect the garden hose from the tap and let a little run out. Then re-connect and turn on the tap. Once a (technical term) hoseful has passed down the hose you get a spluttering of air showing that the hose is now full of clean fresh water. Whilst this is happening the nearest plant gets a bonus.
However as we never drink any of the water in the tank it really doesn't matter to us what we put in it, within reason of course.
The water here in E Anglia is so ghastly we only drink bottled water in the house as well

On that subject, we only carry sparkling bottles water in the van, much more pleasant to drink and when boiled becomes totally "normal" water as the gas boils off long before the water boils.....

We are digressing a bit but I work on the principle that the water in our MH's system must always be clean enough to drink.  If it's not, it's not suitable for showering etc as bacteria/viruses in the water will become airborne and potentially cause respiratory infection - at least that is what the experts say.  On that basis there is absolutely no way I would ever use a garden hose to put water into a fresh water tank.  I'm even suspicious of using the food grade hose provided by Whale, which I understand has an internal surface that discourages biological growth.  If I use it, like you, I always run fresh water through it for a while (which is wasteful and unhelpful if there is a drought) before it goes into the tank.  In contrast, I am able to dry out the water barrel and pump and any handheld container after every trip and sterilise it when I do the rest of the water system.

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Sorry about the image size - not clever enough to make it smaller.  Someone brushing their teeth in sparkling water 

According to the graphic below, from the BBC News site, only 2% of domestic water use is typically garden and car - so I'm struggling to understand what miniscule difference a hosepipe ban is going to make. 
 
Source:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62532620
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I agree.  I think water meters put paid to the widespread use of hosepipes for watering the garden.

rogerblack wrote:According to the graphic below, from the BBC News site, only 2% of domestic water use is typically garden and car - so I'm struggling to understand what miniscule difference a hosepipe ban is going to make. 
 
Source:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62532620
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Just another example of smoke and mirrors to make the domestic customer pay while not addressing the root problem. Personally I don't care if my grass is yellow for a month or two as I know it will revive when rain arrives, but I still find the amount of water lost in transit through leakage uncomprehensible, if we had the same rate of leakage in gas pipes the country would look like a war zone

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Be prepared!!

Bilbobaggins wrote:

rogerblack wrote:According to the graphic below, from the BBC News site, only 2% of domestic water use is typically garden and car - so I'm struggling to understand what miniscule difference a hosepipe ban is going to make. 
 
Source:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62532620
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Just another example of smoke and mirrors to make the domestic customer pay while not addressing the root problem. Personally I don't care if my grass is yellow for a month or two as I know it will revive when rain arrives, but I still find the amount of water lost in transit through leakage uncomprehensible, if we had the same rate of leakage in gas pipes the country would look like a war zone

The huge cost of repairing leaks and the relatively low cost of water means it is often more cost effective to leave the leaks un-repaired.  If water was the same price as gas, this wouldn't be the case and many more of the leaks would be repaired.

With the cost of fuel, why travel with a full water tank? I fill the water tank of my Nuevo (2002) using a water carrier and a funnel. The funnel has a flexible spout and I fitted a sucker to the rim of the funnel, this fixes to the side of the motorhome, so it's hands free. Just enough water for day needs and no pfaffing around getting the van in the correct position for filling.