"Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink".
Well not exactly, but I'm feeling literary today, and so to a report on the lifting of hose pipe bans today - and you can bet your bottom euro you will not be getting a letter from your water company telling you this.
'Dame' Yve Buckland, a quango queen if ever there was one, and for whom I was not given the opportunity to vote in as head of the Consumer Council for Water, reckons "Consumers...will be relieved that restrictions have been lifted before the planting and growing season starts in the garden. However, it's still important that we use water wisely. Consumers are prepared to do their bit, both by avoiding wastage and by considering water-efficient devices".
Erm, this the consumer council, yes? As a matter of absolutely basic economics, when any commodity is available on an all you can eat basis, there is absolutely no incentive for a user to pay any mind to how they use it. Given that water metering is not being rolled out in any serious fashion, water use cannot be controlled through use of the price mechanism, so instead we are faced with the annual campaign of bullying, intimidation and 'shaming' into restricting the amount of water one uses.
These include:
"Use water efficient appliances in the home. A typical family of four uses the equivalent of two baths of water every day: fit a Save-a-Flush device (you may see it called a 'hippo' or even a 'bog hog') and you could save a litre each time you flush".
They do not work. One has to double flush...
"Save water when washing - take a shower rather than a bath, don't leave the tap on when brushing your teeth and use the plug in the washbasin when shaving".
Right. And then one has to run the tap to rinse away the bristle / shaving soap tide mark around one's sink. Also not a very good idea. And for the more romantic among my readers, a candlelit shower tends to be less atmospheric.
And so on and so forth. However, for businesses it gets worse:
"Appoint a water monitor: Assign a member of staff to walk regularly around the site, checking for any obvious waste or excessive water use".
I'll offer the usual odds - Lombard St to a rotten orange - that the average corporate water monitor will be a self-important and deeply disfunctional automaton from 'Human Resources' who will be transported to ecstacy by his or her new powers to 'bully, intimidate and 'shame'.
And perhaps the victims will declare:
"Ah ! well a-day ! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross the Albatross
About my neck was hung".
Water metering - NOW. You know it makes sense.
'Dame' Yve Buckland, a quango queen if ever there was one, and for whom I was not given the opportunity to vote in as head of the Consumer Council for Water, reckons "Consumers...will be relieved that restrictions have been lifted before the planting and growing season starts in the garden. However, it's still important that we use water wisely. Consumers are prepared to do their bit, both by avoiding wastage and by considering water-efficient devices".
Erm, this the consumer council, yes? As a matter of absolutely basic economics, when any commodity is available on an all you can eat basis, there is absolutely no incentive for a user to pay any mind to how they use it. Given that water metering is not being rolled out in any serious fashion, water use cannot be controlled through use of the price mechanism, so instead we are faced with the annual campaign of bullying, intimidation and 'shaming' into restricting the amount of water one uses.
These include:
"Use water efficient appliances in the home. A typical family of four uses the equivalent of two baths of water every day: fit a Save-a-Flush device (you may see it called a 'hippo' or even a 'bog hog') and you could save a litre each time you flush".
They do not work. One has to double flush...
"Save water when washing - take a shower rather than a bath, don't leave the tap on when brushing your teeth and use the plug in the washbasin when shaving".
Right. And then one has to run the tap to rinse away the bristle / shaving soap tide mark around one's sink. Also not a very good idea. And for the more romantic among my readers, a candlelit shower tends to be less atmospheric.
And so on and so forth. However, for businesses it gets worse:
"Appoint a water monitor: Assign a member of staff to walk regularly around the site, checking for any obvious waste or excessive water use".
I'll offer the usual odds - Lombard St to a rotten orange - that the average corporate water monitor will be a self-important and deeply disfunctional automaton from 'Human Resources' who will be transported to ecstacy by his or her new powers to 'bully, intimidate and 'shame'.
And perhaps the victims will declare:
"Ah ! well a-day ! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross the Albatross
About my neck was hung".
Water metering - NOW. You know it makes sense.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, January 18, 2007 at 11:51 am.
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Do you think water metering is the way to go then C ?
It strikes me that as with almost evrything of this sort proposed what we imediately assume is that it will be used as way of increasing rates.
Its the same isn`t it with "incentives" ie punishment green taxes or the Liberal proposal for a local income tax. In every case we know it means more .
I begin to think that until there is drastic cut in overall tax burden and a new agreement about what expectations of the state are legitimate , that proper government is almost impossible .
Absolutely. Just sticking with utilities, imagine how you would use electricity, gas, the phone etc if there was a fixed price no matter how much or little those services were used?
Or pushing it further, if we considered food, would you ever bother having a sandwich if you could have filet mignon? And as for pubs....
your economic logil is impeccable C.
However, there is no water shortage. Water is free, like Air. There is no air shortage either, Oxygen bars were a short-lived phenomonen.
What we have is a terrible water delivery system. Fix that, which is well within technical and financial means. The we can all use as much water as we like.
The issue is not overuse as supply exceeds demand in reality. The supply chain needs fixing and water meters will only ensure an increase in rents being leveraged by the government or companies involved.
I prefer ignoring the hectoring.
Just to throw another small grenade, the UNDOUBTED changes in the climate mean in the UK we will have more rain in the future and more storms. So there in the long-term there is even less need for excessive water management policies.
Yes, double flushing never works. There is X amount of water required to do the job and that's that.
Filet mignons and beer in Prague if I could only get away from this damned PC.
That you PT? If so, why aren't you logged in?
Meanwhile, and a propos of nothing, I'm adding 'best practice' to the banned words list.
Best practice...yes as in when the FSA recommends best practice as a precursor to moving into a new area of you life .
Why not bann celebrity or atleast define it as top 500. Craig Braon reckoned there were 32,000 but at BB level I should think a lot mmore
Since I've moved to Beta Blogger signing in has been a bit hit and miss, so sometimes it's quicker not to.
I agree with PT, signing in has become a pain. Am always careful to copy posts before I publish
My god croydonian has censored me 0+:
thats a first, will have to reconsider linking him to my *hints*fabulous blog
PH - That I have not. Might it have been a mispost?
PT - Just wondered, as there have been outbreaks of identity impersonation and so forth. When I sign in beta to do anything at Anyone But Ken I appear to be someone called BTC, which is annoying.
good job then C
it was a bit gross
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