Can I fill my water butt with a hose during the hosepipe ban?
I know it may sound like a strange question but I had heard that some people were re-filling their water butts with a hosepipe during the ban.
So to clarify things I gave United Utilities a call and they say that no you cannot use a hose to fill your water butt or to fill a watering can or bucket.
However, you can fill your watering can from a cold water tap either in the house or outside.
They also confirmed that it was OK to top-up your garden pond or feature using a hose.
I never thought I would hear myself say this but ..... we need some rain!
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The advice you got from United Utilities is different from that which they are giving out from their Twitter page – see http://twitter.com/unitedutilities
Therein they have said that it is perfectly ok to fill a water butt or watering can from a mains-drawn hose. It would be worth getting name, rank and number of any telephone advisers who give out the kind of disinformation you were given.
Before writing my article I had read the Twitter post which is what made me call United Utilities.
I have called them again today and the advisor told me that the information on Twitter is incorrect and they are in the process of deleting the entry.
I hope this clarifies the situation.
Hi
We have had rain on and off for about four days now so our water butts are full again!
During the recent stormy weather my water butt stand collapsed, the water butt fell over and all my saved water was spilt all over the garden!!! I’ve managed to set it up again and just hope we get some rain to fill it up again.
United Utilities gave you the wrong answer to your question about the legality of filling a waterbutt with a hose during a hosepipe ban. If you check through the definitive answers posted by their senior representatives on their Twitter page – http://twitter.com/unitedutilities – you will find that it is indeed legal to use a hose to fill a waterbutt during a hosepipe ban — as long as the water in the butt isn’t being drawn off to water the garden while it is being replenished from the mains.
The law is an ass of course but United Utilities have to live with it, at least until the end of the year by when new, more sensible legislation should have been adopted by the water companies.