[Old_Master]

[url][Mid Kent Water apply to Defra for
non essential use drought order/url]

If the application is approved, the drought order will enable Mid Kent Water to introduce further restrictions on both domestic and commercial water use. These will includewashing of vehicles and cleaning of exterior of buildings and windows
A public hearing is due to be held in Maidstone in April, at which Mid Kent Water will present its case to a government inspector. The inspector will make his judgement known to the Secretary of State and Defra will notify the company of its decision on the application thereafter.

As many window cleaners as possible need to turn up to oppose this ludicrous ban.
We are all being singled out.
Whilst the coca cola factory in Kent uses 10s of millions of litres of  a day window cleaners cant use a bucket of water!!
We must do all we can if it costs a days wages we need to attend this ban will affect everybody soon!
Glyn

[Ian_Giles]

Glyn,
Surely the ban won't apply to the traditional window cleaner

Us WFP'ers are an obvious easy target, but I can't believe they would extend the ban to trad...would they??

What an earth is the point of banning window cleaning in any form?
In any average town there are only a handfull of us.
In a town and area of say...10,000 people there are perhaps somewhere between 10 and 20 window cleaners, and if figures being bandied about are accurate, about 5 of them will be using WFP.

One householder watering his lawn for a couple of hours will use more than one of those WFP'ers use all day long.
To ban window cleaners working when they make up such a tiny percentage of a towns populace is unbelievably stupid.
What an earth is the point?
The water saved is absolutely piddling.

If the Coca Cola factory turned off all the taps for 30 seconds they would save more water in that time than all of the window cleaners in that county would use in a day, a day?
Hell, probably a month or more.
And just because the window cleaner is a VISIBLE  user of water he is an easy target.

If I lived in this area, or was close enough to make the journey to this hearing I would do so.
I hope that many who are within commuting distance will attend the hearing and make themselves heard.

Ian

[Paul Coleman]

For Christ's sake this is absurd.
With trad window cleaning you can use your spent bath water which would be going down the drain anyway.

[ValueValeting]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=FCFBE5DTODIKZQFIQMGCFGGAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2006/03/21/nwater21.xml&sSheet=/portal/2006/03/21/ixportal.html

Sorry you may have to register to read this.

Quote from text - "If the Government approves them, it will be illegal to fill a garden pond, use a sprinkler in a park or wash a car with a bucket and sponge.

Public golf courses, cricket pitches and historic gardens will be particularly badly hit. Only those with private water supplies will remain green."

[williamx]

Glyn,
Surely the ban won't apply to the traditional window cleaner

Us WFP'ers are an obvious easy target, but I can't believe they would extend the ban to trad...would they??

Mid Kent Water has today (20th March 2006) applied to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for a non essential use drought order.

If the application is approved, the drought order will enable Mid Kent Water to introduce further restrictions on both domestic and commercial water use. These will include:

watering by hosepipe, sprinklers or other similar apparatus of parks, gardens, allotments and other surfaces used for sports or recreation, whether publicly or privately owned
filling of privately owned swimming pools
washing of vehicles and cleaning of exterior of buildings and windows
A public hearing is due to be held in Maidstone in April, at which Mid Kent Water will present its case to a government inspector. The inspector will make his judgement known to the Secretary of State and Defra will notify the company of its decision on the application thereafter.

 

Mid Kent Water introduced restrictions on hosepipe use for all domestic customers on the 8th August 2005. These restrictions remain in place until further notice.

For additional information, please contact

Bobbie Lakhera

Tel: 01634 873033
Fax: 01634 240996
e-mail: Bobbie Lakhera.   
 
Its say window cleaning, if you use a bucket and squeegie, how much water will you use and how will you prove it. 

[Sarah Sarill]

Glyn,

I read with great interest your posts on this subject elsewhere are would ask that you also post a copy of the letter you used to send to your local MP to highlight the plight of our industry should this ban restrict the use of water for cleaning windows (including single buckets as well as wfp).

Whilst there are a lot of cross-over posters to numerous sites, there are many additional posters on this busy site who would be prepared to send some to their local MP's for this cause even if they are not affected YET.

Thanks Glyn

Sarah

[24-7 S C Services]

Hi Everyone,

This is a copy of my letter, which I have sent to local MP's, newspapers and sky news. Edit it to your own needs and forward it to as many departments as you can. This drought order effects all window cleaners’ not just wfp users.

The APWC, has asked the FWC to work along side each other on this matter (response is pending) and the APWC will be uploading a Petition to its website this evening and we hope everyone on this site and other sites will take 5 minuets to fill it in completely. This will be forwarded to the PM and also produced at all meetings concerning this matter.

A copy of the letter to the FWC will be available for viewing in the APWC forum later today and the Petition this evening.


IF WE ALL STAND TOGETHER, WE WILL GO FAR

Many Thanks

Andrew





Dear Sirs/ Madams;

I must protest in the strongest terms regarding the proposed Sutton and East Surrey Water and Thames Water board Drought order. Particularly in relation to the banning of the use of Water Fed Poles by the window cleaning industry.

Due to the Health and Safety Executives (HSE) Working at Heights Directive brought about in April 2005 the only safe method acceptable to professionally clean windows is water fed pole, a method where by purified water (Tap or well water is passed through a device known as a Reverse Osmosis unit to produce 100 % pure water) this is then pumped up through a telescopic pole to reach and clean windows up to 60' from the ground.

I have up graded to this type of cleaning method as a result of the HSE Working at Height Directive and at a cost of over £10,000.00 to my business. If as a result of the ban, I was forced to go back to traditional methods, My investment would be a loss, I would also loose half of my clients as they are now far more impressed with the cleaning results from a water fed pole and my insurance would also become null and void and I would also find it virtually impossible to find cover for working off a ladder.

This method uses very little water indeed only one litre of water per minute is required to clean windows, an average three bedroom house would take only 7 to 10 litres of water.
 
In the United Kingdom 180,000 workers are employed in the Window Cleaning Industry, with many thousands of these in the area where a ban on this safe method of working is proposed. To ban this method could well cause deaths and serious injuries to Window Cleaners forced back to unsafe methods of work. 

It appears window cleaners due to their visibility will be singled out whilst other industries will continue to use thousands of litres for non essential works behind closed doors and almost a billion litres of water a day goes to waste through leaks.

I strongly feel the government should be placing pressure on the water authorities to spend their millions of pounds profits on replacing the leaking under ground water pipes and not to be imposing restrictions on the general public for the negligence of these authorities.

This Drought order, if carried forward, will cause many self employed and small business owners to shut down and no doubt, force tens of thousands of window cleaners to become unemployed.

Please contact me as soon as possible as there are only three days left to oppose the drought order proposal.

[Franky2020]

Hunting was banned but what is happening,dont worry about it.

[alan_t]

refering to that letter above, and not moaning or trying to start any thing off about it, i can understand the costs of buying the system, and do understand what you are saying.
but 7 to 10 litres per house is quite alot really thinking about it, thats getting on for around 2 gallons of water  per house.

i clean traditional, and i can clean 15 houses and not even use 2 gallons of water.

so i can understand why they want to ban window cleaning, maybe its time for the WFP user to start doing traditional methods for now.
im sure customers will not disagree with the current circumstances, and explaining that you are using the old method because of a water shortage.

[williamx]

Alan t

What do you say to the window cleaner or next of kin, who might have an accident because he has gone back to ladder use.

How many houses should you clean with this bucket of water before you replenish it?

Will your customers be happy that they are now having their windows cleaned with dirty water instead of clean water?

What happens if the water boards decide that window cleaning is not allowed at all, this would cover someone using a bucket or thimble of water.

[alansavvi]

refering to that letter above, and not moaning or trying to start any thing off about it, i can understand the costs of buying the system, and do understand what you are saying.
but 7 to 10 litres per house is quite alot really thinking about it, thats getting on for around 2 gallons of water  per house.

i clean traditional, and i can clean 15 houses and not even use 2 gallons of water.

so i can understand why they want to ban window cleaning, maybe its time for the WFP user to start doing traditional methods for now.
im sure customers will not disagree with the current circumstances, and explaining that you are using the old method because of a water shortage.

Sorry mate what you say is rubbish.

They are only going for a visible small trader like we all are because we have no one to fight in our corner, big industries dont get stopped because there would be hell to pay by the water companies.

This is a PR exercise by them. They cannot shut down businesses because of there mismanagement. I believe every bit of water i use with my wfp is essential. It is essential to pay me workers, mortgage, food etc!

Don't insult us that use wfp, we have invested money to be safe and effective. Water is a precious resource but one not wasted by wfp users!

Get your perspective right first before we have anymore ludicrus comments against wfp users, either be part of the whole industry or go your own way!

[Sir Squeaky]

refering to that letter above, and not moaning or trying to start any thing off about it, i can understand the costs of buying the system, and do understand what you are saying.
but 7 to 10 litres per house is quite alot really thinking about it, thats getting on for around 2 gallons of water  per house.

i clean traditional, and i can clean 15 houses and not even use 2 gallons of water.

so i can understand why they want to ban window cleaning, maybe its time for the WFP user to start doing traditional methods for now.
im sure customers will not disagree with the current circumstances, and explaining that you are using the old method because of a water shortage.

I didn't want to be the one to say it Alan.

You're absolutely right though, it's a ludicrous amount of water they use.
They just don't want to part with their precious poles though because they cost so much!

Are ladders more dangerous now than when they used them before? :
Gotta laugh. We'll just carry on earning eh?

Rog.

[windows_chepstow]

If you read Glyn's post, you'll see it affects 'window cleaning'.

There's no difference between WFP or ladder use.

[Moderator David@stives]

Squeeky

Ladders are certainly more dangerous to wfp uses than before.

The simple reason is you forget everything you learned of how to stay safe.

When you use ladders everyday you get tuned to them and they become an extension of your body.

When you have not used ladders for a while it is like learning all over again, since i changed to wfp  i do not feel the same up a ladder as i did before and i tend to make more mistakes.

[williamx]

Rog

I also clean carpets and I use more water, cleaning someones bathroom than I do, for their windows, so should all carpet cleaners be banned?

A domestic cleaner uses more water, washing someones dishes than a wfp cleaner, should they be made redundant?

Should the cleaners in hospitals be sacked because they use a lot of water?

The whole cleaning industry uses loads of water, should they all be put out of work?

and finally the way the Drought Order is worded, it means that you cannot clean external windows, it doesn't say that non wfp window cleaners can.  So this affects you, unless who can lick the windows clean.

[dai]

We are a minority therefore an easy target. We could clean windows with rain water if we had to. If you were working in the rain and just blading off the glass, you would be breaking the law. What a load of ba££ocks.
would it be OK to use my windscreen washers? Or do we drive around with restricted visibility and have accidents. Let them put us all in jail, we would get better treatment. Dai

[windows_chepstow]

We could use 'Tesco's Finest' window cleaning spray?

It's obviously a 'political' decision.  It wouldn't be right for car washes and window cleaners to be seen to use water on 'non-essential' work, when when some 'Kentish Man' can't water his garden with a hose.

Remember, we're on display to the general public.

Thousands of window cleaners won't be put out of work; factories won't close and the world will still turn.

The decision makers want to be seen to be taking a 'hard-line', therefore PUBLIC displays of water 'wastage' should not be tolerated.

Never mind the X-amount of thousands of gallons lost through leaky pipes.

See Andrew's post and do what he asks if you feel strongly enough:

Hi Everyone,

This is a copy of my letter, which I have sent to local MP's, newspapers and sky news. Edit it to your own needs and forward it to as many departments as you can. This drought order effects all window cleaners’ not just wfp users.

The APWC, has asked the FWC to work along side each other on this matter (response is pending) and the APWC will be uploading a Petition to its website this evening and we hope everyone on this site and other sites will take 5 minuets to fill it in completely. This will be forwarded to the PM and also produced at all meetings concerning this matter.

A copy of the letter to the FWC will be available for viewing in the APWC forum later today and the Petition this evening.


IF WE ALL STAND TOGETHER, WE WILL GO FAR

Many Thanks

Andrew

[simbo]

i cannot believe so many of you have added to this post, what a load of b******s they could never inforce this, how could they prove i was not using stored rainwater and worst comes to worst as said tesco's window spray
sinb0

[dai]

and worst comes to worst as said tesco's window spray
sinb0
Yes, or the bottles filled with your own solution. You could start collecting the big bottled water containers, preferably from France, and say you made your solution from it.
I can't see how we would be affected here in Wales, floods are more of a problem than
shortages. we should all stand united on this issue though. It's a matter of principle. Dai

[Ian_Giles]

Squeaks as usual needs to get a little perspective on the issue.

As I said in my own reply at the top of the page, window cleaners are small fry (ok, I didn't actually use those words ) But the gist of the reply was that we use (WFP'ers that is) less water in a day than someone watering their lawn for a couple of hours.

As I said (and shall repeat) in a town and area of 10,000 or so people there will be at best about 10 or 20 window cleaners...tops and about 5 of them will be WFP users.

What possible difference are they going to make?

Get the Coca Cola factory to cut back production by 0.5% and you will save more water in a day than all the WFP'ers in the county would use in several months.

And of course the water companies themselves, nationally lose close to one thousand million litres per day.
To say that WFP users are wasteful with water is bloody ridiculous.

And as Tosh pointed out, and was inferred in Glyn's original post, the ban may well include traditional window cleaners.
Another dry summer, followed by another winter similar to this one and there are going to be very real problems indeed, and they are going to affect a darn sight more than a handful of window cleaners in each town.

You just know that the water companies and the Government are more or less keeping their respective fingers crossed that the rain will come.....but if we are in for a trend of drier seasons for a decade or so, and lets face it, this winter has been the first cold one for well over 10 years, as a nation we could well have some major problems ahead of us.


Ian

[24-7 S C Services]

Hi Everyone,

I always try my best not to enter debates, however, some people out their need a reality check.

Yes I am a WFP user, however if drought enforcement was set in place, every window cleaner would be affected, WFP and traditional.

Yes I have made massive investments in my business; I have just ordered two new vans and also an Ionic pro 5, which has cost me an arm and a leg. If the drought enforcement was passed. I would go under in a matter of weeks.

I have seen on a few of the forums, that people just want to put their heads in the sand and pretend this will not affect them. Well I am sorry it will. Someone asked above, how will they enforce it and how can they prove it is not stored water. Very easily, the police and council departments will enforce the law and they can inspect your home or premises to see where your water is coming from.

If you want to live in ignorance and denial, carry on thinking that it does not affect you. However, if we cannot stop this drought order from happening and it is down to a lack of support from fellow window cleaners. Don’t come back here in two months complaining you have gone under……..

One more important factor everyone needs to realise also, this may not affect you because you do not live in these areas. However, if these three water authorities get away with this and one of them already has its water supply at 97%. The rest of the water authorities up and down the country will follow their lead, then everyone is for the high jump so to say.

Sorry to be blunt people, but that’s it laid on the line. Wake Up and Smell the Roses….


Many Thanks

Andrew

[Sir Squeaky]

Squeeky

Ladders are certainly more dangerous to wfp uses than before.

The simple reason is you forget everything you learned of how to stay safe.

When you use ladders everyday you get tuned to them and they become an extension of your body.

When you have not used ladders for a while it is like learning all over again, since i changed to wfp  i do not feel the same up a ladder as i did before and i tend to make more mistakes.

Fair comment Dave, never thought of it like that, sorry.

[matt]

this thread is great

lets look at the number of people who use the forums and will act on this

under 100 people

do you really think the water companies will give a toss what 100 window cleaners have to say ?? ?? ?? afterall they will still have the "image" of "window cleaners who do a bit of work to top up the old dole money"

i know a PA to a exec of a water board (not in my area) and ive spoken about this to her about all of this, and she told me a few things that are amazing

it seems a water company has added the "window cleaner bit" in BECAUSE some1 from a union/fed/organisation has contacted them and drawn attention that they only use 300 L a day of water, if it wasnt for this person, then the bit wouldnt have been added, they just drew attention to it

[matt]

oh and watch for the next installment of the water board and WFP sage

it aint pretty 

im all for action, BUT water companies work on profits, they are not interested in the man on the street, look at the costs of water that continue to rise

[Helen]

Here's a link to all members of parliament.
Pick your own MP and let them know. If every MP had a load of e-mails on the same subject I'd bet on it making PM's Question time normally on a Thursday.
http://www.parliament.uk/directories/hciolists/alcm.cfm this lists all MPs and their e-mail address

[williamx]

When Paul French, the window cleaner from Lichfield, died the other week, there was a very strong support and offers of help to his family, from all members of the window cleaning community.

Although this drought order is not the same as what his family have gone though, it is still important to our fellow window cleaner out there who it does affect.

It doesn't matter whether your are trad or wfp, or whether you come from the North, West, East or the central parts of this country, what matters is that our colleagues need our help.

We should be there for them.

[williamx]

this thread is great

lets look at the number of people who use the forums and will act on this

under 100 people

do you really think the water companies will give a toss what 100 window cleaners have to say ?? ?? ?? afterall they will still have the "image" of "window cleaners who do a bit of work to top up the old dole money"

i know a PA to a exec of a water board (not in my area) and ive spoken about this to her about all of this, and she told me a few things that are amazing

it seems a water company has added the "window cleaner bit" in BECAUSE some1 from a union/fed/organisation has contacted them and drawn attention that they only use 300 L a day of water, if it wasnt for this person, then the bit wouldnt have been added, they just drew attention to it

If they can just put in so easliy, then its just as easy to remove it.

Do you think that the wfp users would have escaped their knowledge for long.

Remember the poll tax was removed only because a few people at first, stood up and said THIS IS NOT FAIR.

[matt]

this thread is great

lets look at the number of people who use the forums and will act on this

under 100 people

do you really think the water companies will give a toss what 100 window cleaners have to say ?? ?? ?? afterall they will still have the "image" of "window cleaners who do a bit of work to top up the old dole money"

i know a PA to a exec of a water board (not in my area) and ive spoken about this to her about all of this, and she told me a few things that are amazing

it seems a water company has added the "window cleaner bit" in BECAUSE some1 from a union/fed/organisation has contacted them and drawn attention that they only use 300 L a day of water, if it wasnt for this person, then the bit wouldnt have been added, they just drew attention to it

If they can just put in so easliy, then its just as easy to remove it.

Do you think that the wfp users would have escaped their knowledge for long.

Remember the poll tax was removed only because a few people at first, stood up and said THIS IS NOT FAIR.

your right, it only took a few with the poll tax, BUT it needed the mass's to get behind the action, and window cleaners dont have mass's behind them

i dont want a arguement on this, good luck on trying to force water companies who only see the £££ sign and nothing else

[matt]

i spoke to a customer about this today as it happens

he said "well you will have to just do downstairs by hand for a clean or 2 till the summer is over"

he might have a point

[Helen]

i spoke to a customer about this today as it happens

he said "well you will have to just do downstairs by hand for a clean or 2 till the summer is over"

he might have a point

You got there first. I thought that a few moments back. Not the perfect solution but it would keep us going for a while

[matt]

i spoke to a customer about this today as it happens

he said "well you will have to just do downstairs by hand for a clean or 2 till the summer is over"

he might have a point

You got there first. I thought that a few moments back. Not the perfect solution but it would keep us going for a while

i have a 6 week turnaround, so twice would last me 3 months, i know its not ideal, but customers would have to understand

caught between a hard rock and a stone to be honest

first off  -- cannot use ladder due to EU directive (thats what i told em all, they were happy with it)

then

cannot use WFP

[Moderator David@stives]

Matt

The water authorities are fully aware of wfp operators and have done so for a long time.

It is there job to know ,these people are not stupid, they know exactly who is using what.

In the scale of things wfp are classed as very low users of water.

So you are saying somebody phoned them up to see where we stand and they suddenly said

 "ah wfp we never thought of that, thanks for letting us know because we were unaware of them"

I dont think so.

I reckon most of there head offices and plants have been cleaned with wfp for a very long time.

Dave

[Sarah Sarill]

The point is surely we are an easy target when there are many, many industries that use and waste much more water than we do, irrespective of if its for wfp or traditional.

To put things into perspective as to just  how small our contribution is to water usage I have hijacked a thread by Justine Ruggles (hope you dont mind Justin) as it shows how small a fish we really are.  But I bet these corporations dont get a ban imposed on them.

It takes 5 litres of water to produce 1 litre of Coca-Cola.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola
 
Paper mill
 
Water is a key element and much used in the production of paper. It is used in nearly every stage of the pulping and papermaking process. Pulp and paper mills consume 75-225 m³ of water per tonne of paper manufactured.
 
Thats alot of water for 1 ton of paper.
 
http://www.sustainpack.com/aap_water.html
 
 
Another good one, Look at sugar.
 
http://www.cseindia.org/dte-supplement/industry20040215/misuse.htm
 
GlaxoSmithKline
 
Only used 23.5 million cubic meters of water, equivalent to the amount of water used in one year by approximately 92,000 UK households.
 
So thats ok then?
 
http://www.gsk.com/financial/reps03/EHS03/GSKehs-45.htm

Its not just about who and how the water is used but about being fair across the board of every industry hence the letter to MP's is a good one.

My opinion only.

Sarah

[matt]

Matt

The water authorities are fully aware of wfp operators and have done so for a long time.

It is there job to know ,these people are not stupid, they know exactly who is using what.

In the scale of things wfp are classed as very low users of water.

So you are saying somebody phoned them up to see where we stand and they suddenly said

 "ah wfp we never thought of that, thanks for letting us know because we were unaware of them"

I dont think so.

I reckon most of there head offices and plants have been cleaned with wfp for a very long time.

Dave

Dave thats exactly what i am saying

this water company was contacted by some1, and the person on the phone asked for a answer from some1 "in charge" it was asked in a meeting and this exec said " the decesion was made by the board / people making decisions, who didnt know what WFP was till this question

i am sure the safety people knew about the building being done by WFP,

BUT the people upstairs didnt know about it

[DASERVICES]

 This has got me thinking, would the water company ban the cleaning of the
  London Eye or any other tourist hotspot. These places bring in millions
  so I think the likelihood of this happening is slim.

  I've mentioned this in the past, the likes of the BWCA should be seeking
  some sort of compensation for their members. If you start throwing
  compensation at the water board then you may see the cracks appearing
  in the water ban for commercial users.

  The likes of British Gas and all Electric suppliers have a compensation package
   if you go x hrs without supply. They won't tell you that but I have claimed
   in the past when we have gone a day without electricity.

   The water board may have something like this in place, they won't tell you
   but instead you have to find out the small print. Someone needs to look
   into this.

   Just a thought.

   Doug

[stuart@skypole]

once the water meters are in place the droughts will stop
profit
profit

[chris@c.m.s]

For southern water region it is quoted in tonights evening Argus under The bans southern water wants,
(The cleaning of the exterior of  buildings other than Windows)
surely most of the other regions will follow suit.  

[jouk45]

Been reading all the threads about water bans.and seems to have everyone in a panic. iv never thought of this or asked,can we purify sea water with our di tanks and ro systems if real desperate. just a thought.jouk45

[matt]

a point to think on

how many WFP users and paying "comercail / business water rates"

[matt]

Been reading all the threads about water bans.and seems to have everyone in a panic. iv never thought of this or asked,can we purify sea water with our di tanks and ro systems if real desperate. just a thought.jouk45

yes but the kit is mega bucks to buy, think they do it in some of the dry countries (dubia etc etc)

[AuRavelling79]

Here's a link to all members of parliament.
Pick your own MP and let them know. If every MP had a load of e-mails on the same subject I'd bet on it making PM's Question time normally on a Thursday.
http://www.parliament.uk/directories/hciolists/alcm.cfm this lists all MPs and their e-mail address

Thanks for the link and a belated welcome to the board - I have e-mailed my MP this evening.

[DASERVICES]

  Did a little digging on compensation, came across this document from 1999 so I
  think the compensation package will be more now :-

   Business customers

There is arguably a case for higher payments for non-domestic customers in respect of those service failures where they may suffer more inconvenience, such as those relating to supply interruptions. These customers are already entitled to a higher payment (under Licence Condition Q) of £50 per day where water for essential use is restricted as a result of a drought.

http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/aptrix/ofwat/publish.nsf/Content/gssreview

This needs to be tackled as a combined effort giving you more clout, individual
claims may not highlight the issue that this is your livelyhood.

I may be wrong on this but may be worth a go.

Doug

[williamx]

Been reading all the threads about water bans.and seems to have everyone in a panic. iv never thought of this or asked,can we purify sea water with our di tanks and ro systems if real desperate. just a thought.jouk45

The drought order says we cannot clean windows even if we get the water from elsewhere, we could even pee in a bottle and purify it, but we couldn't use it.

[neil100]

Things are looking bleak.

If w/cleaning were to be banned in our region, I would be a law abbiding citizen and stop cleaning windows with wfp very reluctently.

But on principle I would carry on w/cleaning the  Traditional way. The amount of  water used is so small it would make a mockery of the restrictions placed on us by the water authorities. I realize that would put me on the wrong side of the law. But I would be willing to make a stand.

If the Water authorities started legal proccedings, I would be willing to go to prision over it, because I think they are targeting the wrong group to save water. If there were enough like minded people in the country, the Bad press the water companys would get would be unbeliveble.

Can you imagine the headlines hardworking w/cleaners locked up for useing a bucket of water while our country is sucked dry from a leaking network of pipes.

Nel.

[williamx]

  Did a little digging on compensation, came across this document from 1999 so I
  think the compensation package will be more now :-

   Business customers

There is arguably a case for higher payments for non-domestic customers in respect of those service failures where they may suffer more inconvenience, such as those relating to supply interruptions. These customers are already entitled to a higher payment (under Licence Condition Q) of £50 per day where water for essential use is restricted as a result of a drought.



http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/aptrix/ofwat/publish.nsf/Content/gssreview

This needs to be tackled as a combined effort giving you more clout, individual
claims may not highlight the issue that this is your livelyhood.

I may be wrong on this but may be worth a go.

Doug

Found this on Severn Trents website

If they have to impose standpipes then they will offer compensation

[DASERVICES]

  Another idea for you guys maybe wrong again, dug up this wording on an
  Ofwat document about interrupted supply of water :-

  However as a business customer we strongly recommend that you assess your susceptibility to a loss of supply, planned or otherwise and consider your own storage arrangements.  Your local water company should be able to offer advice on such arrangements.

  Does this give you the legal go ahead to store water ! If you had the space
  and money to buy 1000 litre IBC's to cover you for a period.

  These are the things I would be looking into if it effected me, this is my last
  say on the matter.

  Hope you guys find a way around it, all the best.

  Doug

  
  

[poles apart]

I've got twenty 1000 litre ibc's in my garden! I'm gonna start filling them asap!

[dai]

Call me a cynic if you like, but can you smell a rat here? Is this the beginning of window cleaning licenses for the UK as a whole. I'm not suggesting that the water company's are going to propose it, [unless they think they can make more money out of it] No; It's the politicians that may come up with it as a possible solution.
It wouldn't help with the water shortage, but if they charge us a whacking great licence fee, they will make sure we pay more for the water we use.
I think that these proposals show as little foresight as the architects of the Iraqi war.
The tourist season is about to begin. Do they think that visitors want to come to a place where they can't see out of their hotel or coach tour windows.
As Ian Say's Coca cola can use millions of gallons. We can have rotten teeth but not clean windows. Dai

[matt]

Dai

your not far away from what i understand

[JohnL]

yes this will get very political. its far easier for politicians to show the public they are responding to a critical situation by hitting trades such as WCers than hitting industries that use vast quantities of water.

and what does John Prescott propose - building a new town in an area which is already short of water!

I really dont think there is much joined up thinking from politicians these days 

JohnL

[Paul Coleman]

yes this will get very political. its far easier for politicians to show the public they are responding to a critical situation by hitting trades such as WCers than hitting industries that use vast quantities of water.

and what does John Prescott propose - building a new town in an area which is already short of water!

I really dont think there is much joined up thinking from politicians these days 

JohnL

There's a lot of corruption out there IMO.  Loans and donations for seats in the Lords?
If I give the Labour Party a tenner, do you think they might give me a seat on their toilet?

[Terry_Burrows]

I feel the scrim coming back big time, and the bucket