Do our water butts contribute to the water shortage

[Dead Dogs]

I'll have to get in touch with Scotish Water and see if they could turn their rain off.

Now who owns the wind?

[Potstubsdustbins]

My dad's water supply is from a spring on his property and he doesn't pay anyone for it... Well, except for the dudes who put the filtration system in.

Sarz that could be because they don't know what he is doing. Shusssssssssssssssssssss.

Colin

[Potstubsdustbins]

I have an idea for a water saving device. Its a big waterproof bag - I'll call it a Body bag!!. When you want an all over wash you step inside the bag and pull it up to your neck. Its attached to the shower hose so the bag fills up with the minimum amount of water needed to cover your body. The flow of water switches off automatically when it reaches neck level. You can splosh around as long as you like inside your bag but no more water can come in. A foot operated switch opens an outlet in the bag, the water runs away into an outside storage butt for use on the garden, or you can step out of the bag, refasten the top and use the water to flush the loo by connecting it to the cistern.
Dragons Den, anyone?

VC you do realise that if someone from the environment agency or some MP looking to up his profile reads this it will be bladdy law by the end of the year.

Colin

[veggiechicken]

So you think its a good idea then?

[Potstubsdustbins]

If your can tell how I am going to be jiggled around in the bag I might consider it.

Colin

Damn shoudn't have posted that.

[veggiechicken]

You'll have to jiggle yourself!

[veggiechicken]

Simultaneous thought processes there Potty!

[bazzaboy]

I have an idea for a water saving device. Its a big waterproof bag - I'll call it a Body bag!!. When you want an all over wash you step inside the bag and pull it up to your neck. Its attached to the shower hose so the bag fills up with the minimum amount of water needed to cover your body. The flow of water switches off automatically when it reaches neck level. You can splosh around as long as you like inside your bag but no more water can come in. A foot operated switch opens an outlet in the bag, the water runs away into an outside storage butt for use on the garden, or you can step out of the bag, refasten the top and use the water to flush the loo by connecting it to the cistern.
Dragons Den, anyone?

Bag with a friend would be fun.... Brilliant VC! The best example along these lines I ever saw (not sure if still available, couldn't find on Google) was a camping shower which consisted of a footpump that you put in a washing-up bowl and a 6' length of pipe that ended in a necklace (pipe with holes). You put the necklace round your neck, put some water in the washing up bowl, then stand in the washing up bowl and walk! The walking pumps the water up the pipe, squirts out of the necklace, down your body and back into the washing up bowl. Simples!

[Two_Sheds]

Maybe we should be looking to countries that have real droughts, ie, caused by no rainfall

We think it rains all the time in England, but it doesn't. At the moment the south-east is as dry as Tunisia, and London gets the same rainfall as Rome (or is it Athens?) and the UK as a whole has much less than Australia ... unless I have this UN chart all wrong

[veggiechicken]

Bag with a friend would be fun.... Brilliant VC! The best example along these lines I ever saw (not sure if still available, couldn't find on Google) was a camping shower which consisted of a footpump that you put in a washing-up bowl and a 6' length of pipe that ended in a necklace (pipe with holes). You put the necklace round your neck, put some water in the washing up bowl, then stand in the washing up bowl and walk! The walking pumps the water up the pipe, squirts out of the necklace, down your body and back into the washing up bowl. Simples!

That sounds good fun Baz. If you had one of those flexi tubs, put a sheet of perspex over the top to catch the sun and thereby heat the water, it could be very refreshing after a days gardening. I've been mentally working along these lines for an outdoor shower for a while. I have a very private garden!!!

[salome2001]

and the UK as a whole has much less than Australia ... unless I have this UN chart all wrong

your page wouldn't load but I did find the figures elsewhere and they are as follows:
average annual rainfall UK 1971-2000: 926.9mm
average annual rainfall Australia: 165 mm

the total figures might be higher for Australia, but you need to factor in the massive difference in land area.

[Two_Sheds]

Oh, it loads for me ...? And the UK is getting drier, so statistics 1971-2000 are well out of date?

Precipitation (most recent) by country

UK 754 mm
Mexico 848 mm
Kenya 1,063 mm
Oz 1,304 mm
Gabon 2,841 mm

[RedThorn]

I'll have to get in touch with Scotish Water and see if they could turn their rain off.

Now who owns the wind?

Hush now or the energy companies will claim ownership

[RedThorn]

We think it rains all the time in England, but it doesn't. At the moment the south-east is as dry as Tunisia, and London gets the same rainfall as Rome (or is it Athens?) and the UK as a whole has much less than Australia ... unless I have this UN chart all wrong

TS, you can fit England into Aus 58.95 times !!!
Australia has 7,686,850 km² and England 130,395 km² .
But density population in England is 377/km² and in Australia is 2.65 /km² which is a big difference !!!

Bear in mind too that majority of the rain falls in a fraction of Aus. Vast swathes of Aus is arid

Over East, they are having a torrid time with flooding, over west (more than 2000 miles) where I am is a different story, here we have major bush fires. In the middle, it's virtually unpopulated due to heat and lack of water

Furthermore, the stats you quote, there's a little definition there

DEFINITION: Average Annual Precipitation in Largest City (mm, 1931-1960)

Our biggest City is over East where the rain is

[Two_Sheds]

Yep, I know Oz is much bigger than the UK. I was trying to make the point that we don't get as much rain as we think we do.