***** This thread is now closed, please CLICK HERE to go to Volume 5 *****
Volume 4 as the debate dribbles on.
Volume 1 is here
Volume 2 is here
Volume 3 is here
Last edited by: VxFan on Sun 8 Apr 12 at 16:56
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See what "Freebies" you can get from your water company! - I got a four-minute shower timer from U.U, going to use it in the kitchen though as I`m useless at "Soft-boiled Eggs"!!!
www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/cut-water-bills#one
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Gave the front parking area a long overdue pressure wash today (coloured tiles, they came up a treat), in advance of next week's ban. Got some funny looks from passers-by. Was I being anti social? I don't think so, although I did feel a little guilty.
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>> Gave the front parking area a long overdue pressure wash today (coloured tiles, they came up a treat), in advance of next week's ban.
>>
I did my front parking area today to clean the green hue of it.
Tomorrow I will do the patio as it is in an even worse state ( North facing and no direct sun)
I do not feel guilty especially as I have recently swopped our old loo, with its massive cistern, for one of these twin button jobs.
Now back to exploring a bilge pump for my shower tray :-(
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get a minimum of a 500gph model with a 3/4 in hose, the lesser 360`s with 1/2 in hose wont "cut-it"
Theres an old "boating" saying: "it dont matter how big your pump is, nothing shifts water faster than a frightened man!!"
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>> Gave the front parking area a long overdue pressure wash today (coloured tiles, they came
>> up a treat), in advance of next week's ban. Got some funny looks from passers-by.
>> Was I being anti social? I don't think so, although I did feel a little
>> guilty.
I did our front "garden" (100% paved, much to SWMBO's regret - she likes green growing stuff) an also the concrete drive.
I didn't feel guilty, but I did feel satisfied at a good job, with a cheap-as-chips washer !
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Rumour has it that our area will have a hosepipe ban from 5th April, but we haven't yet received notification of this from our water authority. They're cutting it a bit fine.
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>> Rumour has it that our area will have a hosepipe ban >>
Which area or water company is it? AFAIK, they need only announce it in the press and on their website.
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Yes that's right. They need to publish in two newspapers circulating in their area and on their website. There is no minimum notice although most companies have given 3 or 4 weeks.
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It is snowing here, does that count as rain? :-)
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Dry sunny T shirt weather down south. Please send water!
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I'm off to wash the KIA and hose the crud off the underside (there'll probably be a couple of shovel loads on the drive after) and SWMBO wants the patio pressure washed.
That'll be it until the ban's lifted.
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I de-crudded the car and pressure washed the patio last week.
Off for an MOT in a minute.
I'll try and get some jerry cans while I'm out - ready for the water standpipes!!!
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>>I'm off to wash the KIA and hose the crud off the underside<<
That's probably all there is holding the bimmin thing together!
;o}
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>> >>I'm off to wash the KIA and hose the crud off the underside<<
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>> That's probably all there is holding the bimmin thing together!
>>
>> ;o}
>>
Looks like it could be suffering from a bit of dandruff: i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g456/bathtubshare/crud.jpg
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Good grief! - it'll do much more MPG now I'll wager.
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>> Dry sunny T shirt weather down south. Please send water!
>>
We will send the cold but keep the water, you lot would only waste it on your gardens. :-)
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Pouring down here.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 3 Apr 12 at 20:28
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I'm doing a rain dance here but it isn't working.
Pat
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We've just had enough to dampen the roads.
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Chuck us your hosepipe then Pat - still no ban in this bit of Cambridgeshire planned.
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I think it starts on Thursday...should I go and put the sprinkler on today?!
Pat
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Still Pouring down here
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 3 Apr 12 at 20:28
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Could do with a bit of rain here in Berkshire to wash the dust and bird poo off the solar panels, which have had a wonderful March 9especially with my backward running meter, to which I owned up - they are coming to replaced it).
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BBC Weather for Reading doesn't show rain until 10pm (3 hour resolution).
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Even warmer today but less bright. Now it's clouding over definitively.
It is dry because herself and I went to a lot of places on our afternoon waddle where you normally wouldn't go at this time of year. Fine display of wood anemones, celandines and primroses with a bumper crop of bluebells surging up around them.
A dense crowd of roe deer sidled away and eyed us through the trees from 75 yards off. We stared back and they got nervous and crossed a ditch one by one so I could count them: there were fourteen. Ten minutes later saw a different herd, six or eight strong, similar colouring to the roe deer but chubbier and very small: muntjac.
There's a large albino roe deer in the area that people call the golden hind, sort of off-white. I've seen it twice, but not at all recently. They say it's still about though, although there's a bit of confusion as some say there's a dead-white one as well.
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Now that beats the view from Kensall Rise anyday AC;)
Pat
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Hope you had suitable footwear available AC? Can't see deer poo doing your white "lounge lizard" jobs any favours !
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>> Can't see deer poo doing your white "lounge lizard" jobs any favours !
Actually I went to London the other day with a big lump of what I think was sheepsh on top of one of them. I kept thinking it would fall off but in the end had to shuffle it off in some undergrowth.
The shoes are fine for country wear, surprisingly water resistant and the rubber nipples on their soles grip firm mud very well making scrambling over hedges and banks less undignified than it can be. Both are mellowing nicely in a predominantly yellow shade that suggests recent passage through an untended third-world street khazi, but it's only mud really and I reckon it would wipe off clean if I could be bothered.
A good thirty quid's worth.
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They'd probably wash quite successfully you know. Put them ( individually) into old pillowcases or draw string cotton "gym" bags and pop them in the washing machine on a cool wash <40c. They'll come up a treat. This assumes that you'd not be totally without alternatives during the drying period ! Bit of Scotchguard on them when they're dry. New lease of life.
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>> backward running meter
I thought this was okay for older meters - it's taking into account your feed-in to the grid.
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Wind and rain all day in Durham City.
Snow on higher ground, and it might freeze tonight.
Wish I'd bought some winter tyres.
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Don't get them started Iffy !
Thought we'd got at least until September 'till that all kicks off again...
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Old meters will run backwards but that's cheating really.
The solar system comes with a meter showing what you've generated.
You get the FiT payment for each unit on that one (that's the 43p payment, going up about now to 45p-ish)
Then you get 50% of the same figure as a notional amount that you've used. (That's about 3p)
Having a meter running backwards (when generating more than is being used) as well is an added bonus, it's like having all you generated stored in batteries for use whenever you want. Many people wouldn't declare it but I don't want them catching up with me and landing a big bill at some indeterminate future time - not that they will, but at least I'm being honest with them.
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>>I'm with the 70.1%<<
+1
:)
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Of course if there was a reward I might think about it - everyman has his price.
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True we can't all be saints.Lots of rain here at the moment.P......Down.
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My raindance worked.
It started to rain here around 4pm and it hasn't stopped yet (13 hours later)
Pat
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No longer pouring here: Snowing instead. High winds.
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I've lit me bimmin fire, 4c here, still got 15 bags o' coal left from the 60 I bought last Sept. :)
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>> Would you grass on your grass-watering neighours? (Poll)
That would depend on which neighbour it was!
I don't see why not, in principle - the idea is that you conserve water, and and everybody else cooperates. If your own grass is going yellow and your plants dying, why should the neighbour benefit from your silence, and prolong the ban? And he'd get three strikes anyway. A shot across the bows would be fair enough.
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...still no ban in this bit of Cambridgeshire planned...
And here's why:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17624899
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..and if you look at the Cambridge Water drought plan, it's based on the last Great Drought from 1920 something. Probably tells us not to overfettle our velocipedes.
And now I'll shut my bore hole.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Thu 5 Apr 12 at 15:41
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Is it just a coincidence that our hosepipe ban starts on 5th April, i.e. the end of the financial year?
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We had a light shower. Roads are dry already, as is the soil.
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We've just had a dusting of snow. Can't wait to get the ice grippers on for the second time.
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Just had confirmation from Anglian Water that all businesses providing a service to a domestic address using the on site water supply are exempt from the ban.
Proof of the service done ( invoice/receipt ), inc time, date and work undertaken is all thats required if someone is reported.
Also applies to window cleaning and patio cleaning, etc etc.
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>> Just had confirmation from Anglian Water that all businesses providing a service to a domestic
>> address using the on site water supply are exempt from the ban.
>>
>> Proof of the service done ( invoice/receipt ), inc time, date and work undertaken is
>> all thats required if someone is reported.
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>> Also applies to window cleaning and patio cleaning, etc etc.
>>
Going by that you can pay some to clean your windows using a hosepipe at your home, but can't do it yourself?
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>>Going by that you can pay some to clean your windows using a hosepipe at your home, but can't do it yourself?<<
That seems perfectly reasonable to me. The window cleaner is entitled to earn a living.
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Sounds like rubbish to me. Same amount of water is used.
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>>Sounds like rubbish to me. Same amount of water is used<<
For someone who lives in the EU, its suprising you arent more used to arbitrary rules and regulations.
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I still have the capacity to remain surprised ;-)
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>> Sounds like rubbish to me. Same amount of water is used.
Would you prefer to see window cleaners and car valeters out of work for the duration of the ban?
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No, why would you think that?
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Or get everyone in your street to start a company called Garden Watering (3) Ltd, Garden Watering (5) Ltd etc and you can all do each other's lawns at the same price. Sorted.
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Interesting situation. If I pay my neighbour to wash my car and he does the same for me and we both invoice one another for equal amounts looks like we're sorted.
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Possibly though the woman did say they would be confirming the legit nature of companies by contacting them if they suspect something is amiss.
I wonder whether two 'businesses' cleaning eachothers cars in the same street might set off a few alarm bells, but by all means try it :-)
Ironic really that I cant clean my own car properly and may have to pay someone else to come and do it. Still, for less than £20 im happy to watch someone else do it for once.
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"I wonder whether two 'businesses' cleaning eachothers cars in the same street might set off a few alarm bells, but by all means try it :-)"
Would make an interesting legal case for Albert Haddock. I see Anglian Water have updated their website to show the exemption. Good luck with the business
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Dont need luck, just customers :-)
Actually, ive all but stopped working anyway, im just looking after my longtimers now, neck is being a real pain.
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I would think business could improve with a hose pipe ban. People cannot wash their own cars at home but someone else can do it for them. Might it be worthwhile employing someone to wash the cars for you if the neck is a problem?
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Damn cold out there today but still quite bright. The merest light sprinkle of rain in two or three showers during the night. Perhaps more is on the way.
Saw those muntjacs again today, eight of them. But are they muntjacs, even the Taiwanese variant of the Chinese or Reeves's Muntjac, said by Wikipedia to be the species that has taken root here after escaping from Whipsnade zoo? Their colouring is virtually identical to the local roe deer, but they are half the size. I think I'll have to get some binoculars and see if I can spot their fangs or facial coloration patterns. One wouldn't expect a whole herd consisting entirely of immature half-grown roe deer, would one?
Wiki says they are the world's oldest deer species, 15 million years at least, and remarkable for their low number of chromosomes. Males have antlers but gouge each other with 2-inch long upper canine teeth. Better not get too close then.
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Saw three muntjacs grazing on the side of the A1 this morning, feet from the lorries whizzing by. Saw a pure white roe dear in the woods near the queens pile in Norfolk earlier this year.
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>>Saw a pure white roe dear
Ah! the mystical "White-Hart" of Celtic/Iron age folk-lore often associated with Herne the Hunter! - good to know he`s still about!
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I am the flood warden of a stretch of my local river; last night I got a recorded message from the Environment Agency telling me of a risk of flooding, consider moving livestock to high ground etc. This was 6 hours before the hosepipe ban! To be fair we do need one, the reservoirs won't have gained anything from our recent rain around here
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Most of the rain I saw this week, was rushing straight off the land, into the roads, and down the drain. I was standing on a hill that I knew had had 12 hours of heavy rainfall over night, and the soil was barely damp.
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Decisions, decisions. My car is covered is covered in road salt from the period of snow earlier this week. As it has now warmed up enough to get into car washing mode should I use a bucket sponge and hosepipe, bucket long handled brush and hosepipe, or bucket brush and pressure washer?
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 5 Apr 12 at 11:10
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Find your nearest quiet, rural Ford (not car-make but river-crossing), park in middle of it, hop out in yer Wellies and scop a few buckets over it, the river will do the bottom!
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>> Decisions, decisions. My car is covered is covered in road salt from the period of
>> snow earlier this week. As it has now warmed up enough to get into car
>> washing mode should I use a bucket sponge and hosepipe, bucket long handled brush and
>> hosepipe, or bucket brush and pressure washer?
>>
UPDATE.
The wash is off - It has just started raining. :-)
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The rain was a few spots, didn't even wet the road. :-(
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Got back from walking the dog a bit earlier to find son washing Mrs F's car, with a hosepipe! Told him to put it away quick.
Honestly, hasn't washed a car in years, then chooses today to do it (he's after money for a microphone I think).
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who actually does the arrest for hose pipe violation anyway? council official, water board, police, water bailiff, traffic warden?
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>> who actually does the arrest for hose pipe violation anyway?
I heard on the news that only one person was prosecuted last time there was a ban.
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I saw on the TV news this morning, (not sure which one) that helicopter surveillance will be used if the ban is largely ignored.
Sounds like overkill, but they do it in Australia for the monitoring of the maintenance of fire breaks (legal requirement) and illegal tree felling in semi urban areas.
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>>who actually does the arrest for hose pipe violation anyway?
Water authority turned up when a neighbour dobbed me in '76. I was syphoning bath water. ;>)
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Careful Focus,maybe they're onto you already.
The BBC News website homepage currently has a picture of a young man washing a Focus with a hose.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/
I hope it isn't your son!!!
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It turned into a pleasant sunny afternoon here so it was the bucket, brush, and pressure washer to get the salt off the car. :-)
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>> The BBC News website homepage currently has a picture of a young man washing a
>> Focus with a hose.
Argh! :)
No he was washing Mrs F's Colt. And I think the Focus in the picture is one of those swanky Mk2s anyway, not a proper one.
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Ive heard you can still use a hose pipe if you keep fish in a pond and it needs a brim, also blue badge holders are exempt too there allowed to clean the car with a hosepipe
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According to JV on Radio 2 yesterday that is correct, but it has to be the actual Blue Badge holder who uses the hosepipe, not another family member.
Pat
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Are you sure Pat? My wife is a blue badge holder she wouldn't be able to clean the car in a month of sundays.
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Here is the exemption as published on Anglian water website. Clearly applies specifically to the person holding the blue badge
"People who hold a current Blue Badge issued by their local authority can use a hosepipe to water a garden attached to domestic premises in order to water plants and water their own allotment if applicable."
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I am her carer,if my wife is with me in the garden Iam not allowed to hold the hosepipe?
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Not according to Jeremy Vine Dutchie, that was one of the questions asked and the official on the programmes stated that it had to be used by the blue badge holder.
It does say, as CG quotes, to water flowers, not wash cars;)
Pat
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The BBC News this evening said that you can use a hose to clean a patio or decking if it constituted a safety hazard. Mine is North facing and always a tinge of green that becomes slippery in wet weather so I presume that the pressure washer will be ok .
At the moment I am fighting Thames Water to clear a blocked sewer that has flooded an area of garden with sewage - on the same h&s basis I assume that a hose will be ok for basic cleansing. I will try to get them to do it, and make them pay for the water! At least it makes the grass green!
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I put a question to Anglian water about using a pressure washer fed from a bucket by a length of hosepipe. Here's their reply:
I can confirm that you can use a hosepipe attached to a pressure washer from a bucket. The hosepipe ban only applies to hosepipes attached to the mains water supply.
So I can stand the bucket under a running tap and run the hose from the bucket, but not connect the hose directly to the tap.............................
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>> I put a question to Anglian water about using a pressure washer fed from a
>> bucket by a length of hosepipe. Here's their reply:
>>
>> I can confirm that you can use a hosepipe attached to a pressure washer from
>> a bucket. The hosepipe ban only applies to hosepipes attached to the mains water supply.
>>
>> So I can stand the bucket under a running tap and run the hose from
>> the bucket, but not connect the hose directly to the tap.............................
>>
Nice idea, but I very much doubt whether you will get sufficient flow rate to the pressure washer for it to function properly :)
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>> Nice idea, but I very much doubt whether you will get sufficient flow rate to
>> the pressure washer for it to function properly :)
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Depends on how big the bucket is. :-)
How about a hose feeding a pressure washer from a water butt tap? Filling the water butt is your problem. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sat 7 Apr 12 at 09:32
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>>Filling the water butt is your problem. :-)<<
Take one common or garden hose, connect it to a tap, preferably outside, fill one large water butt - simples!
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You forgot one ingredient Dog - darkness. - You could always fill the butt with buckets.
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I'm a crafty cockney Rob, I'd find 'a way' alright ;)
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>> The BBC News this evening said that you can use a hose to clean a
>> patio or decking if it constituted a safety hazard. Mine is North facing and always
>> a tinge of green that becomes slippery in wet weather so I presume that the
>> pressure washer will be ok .
Diluted Jeyes Fluid is very effective in killing moss and lichen.. and preventing its recurral.
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Pressure washing the patio and drive during our last spot of decent weather, wearing only shorts, has caused me to develop a nasty dose of cellulitis, just in time to put my next week's scheduled back operation in doubt!
I guess the hospital won't want someone on the operating table with nasty bacteria floating around in their system, even though it is at last responding to treatment.
Grrrrr!
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The surgeon who did my hip was most concerned about 'infection'.
I was advised not to cut my nails in the weeks preceding the operation, and minimise the risk of any cuts or minor injuries.
He was also concerned about some skin blemishes and advised me to use lots of talcum powder around my, er, nether regions.
I'm not sure what is meant by infection in this instance, but the surgeon said: "If it happens, you and I will get to know each other much better than you would like, and you may not be able to go back to work for months."
All went well in my case, but I've since heard of two people who became infected post-op, and it's put their recovery back bigstyle.
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>> Diluted Jeyes Fluid is very effective in killing moss and lichen.. and preventing its recurral.
>>
Is that the current formula Jeyes Fluid, or the previous coal-tar based formula?
Last edited by: L'escargot on Sat 7 Apr 12 at 14:29
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Hosepipe Ban Volume 4. - devonite
