Watering Question

[Pieman]

Looking at setting up a watering system to water the whole garden including the vegetable patch.

I have a Hozelock AC1 timer which I was going to connect to a 4 port manifold (connected to mains) then run into a seeper hose.

I'm trying to clarify whether this counts as "unattended" hosepipes...i.e. whether I "should" have a water meter......

[Two_Sheds]

yes, if you use a hose you should be on a meter

[Alison]

I think it depends on the area you live in, different water companies have totally different rules. Round here it's not a problem at all and it's very rare we get any form of hosepipe bans or whatever but other areas can be much more strict, think it depends how much it rains where you live. Your best bet is to contact your water supplier and check for certain.

However, from a slightly diferent note, you need to be careful with auto watering systems. Too much surface water can make the plants less likely to have deeper roots and therefore much less likely to be able to cope with any spell of low water. I don't really water my veg that's planted in the ground after an initial soaking when first planted unless it's really wilting, based on they theory of tough love. Seems to work well for me.

[rustylady]

Definitely unattended and possibly very wasteful. How big is your garden?

[HotStuff]

I found this quote on the Three Valleys website, which is my area:

Compulsory metering
There are some instances when having a water meter is compulsory.

This includes the following groups:

Any property that uses a sprinkler, a hosepipe or any other garden watering apparatus that is not held in the hand to use at all times

And this from Thames Water:

Hosepipes should never be left unattended. If you have a sprinkler or similar attached to an unattended hosepipe, you are required to have a water meter fitted.

However I could find nothing similar on the Portsmouth Water website.

So it would appear that just using a hose doesn't require a meter, it's the "unattended" aspect that makes the difference and the policy seems to vary depending on your supplier.

[Pieman]

Thanks for the comments folks - I was in B&Q a couple of weeks ago looking for a new dial sprinkler and overheard someone saying that he had just laid a new lawn and had asked Portsmouth Water and they said no need.....I would check my self though.....