It is not difficult to add a 100Litre rainwater butt to the plastic downspout of a Victorian terraced house. This needs to be highlighted by anyone who can, to all those who should. (I have fitted 2 in the last 12months.) The amount of water sprayed onto gardens is embarrassing.
Aug 20, 2022·edited Aug 20, 2022Liked by Dan Hayes
Fascinating article Daniel, thank you. With all the development going on in Sheffield City Centre hopefully the issue of more trees can be addressed through the planning system. Certainly the Grey-to-Green is hugely successful with everyone. Personally I would also like to see the rainwater collection system that was removed from the Winter Gardens (presumably because of costs) reinstated to water city centre trees and green spaces.
Thanks Bridget! Yes, it would be great if Grey to Green was extended throughout the city centre (and even beyond?). I didn’t know about the Winter Garden rainwater system. Something to look into.
Great story by Daniel, who has mapped the past and present to good effect, but it reflects poorly on district authorities planning departments who don’t scrutinise anywhere closely enough the water companies’ service and performance that should provide properly for us, or make them answerable about their future plans for water conservation. Give the water companies regular targets to achieve would be a start, and ask them what plans they have, and how, for the next 20 years, say, they intend to provide a continuous service would be another, plus, hold them to account using district authority and independent monitoring with the results made public at six monthly meetings, including making their chairman/directors attend the meetings. Keeping ‘on their case’ about wastage and leaks is a given, but making public their commitments to future plans needs steering just as strongly, joined with the backing of authorities’ officers and politicians. The shareholders are sat back happy taking easy dividends at present, and they won’t demand anything, whereas, incredibly, we can’t guarantee putting off a hosepipe ban!
"The largest nearby reservoir, Ladybower, belongs to Severn Trent Water and sends its water to the Midlands." Mostly true, although there is also an underground conduit/tunnel from Ladybower which supplies the Rivelin reservoirs, so Sheffield is actually 'plugged in' to the Derwent Valley catchments too.
Thank you [blushes]. The above-ground sighting towers, to ensure the tunnel was being driven on the correct alignment, still exist on the Hallam Moors.
Thanks for your considered comments Liz. I take your point about the reservoirs but could new ones not mean that less was wasted? And could being less concerned about people and clothes being clean be quite a tough sell?
Hi Dan, yes it might be a tough sell ... but it is in line with what so many young people are thinking about. It is a conversation we need to have more. Washing damages the garments and sends plastics and water down the drains, as well as using energy. The extent of laundry is excessive, and arguably unecessary, compared to 30 years ago.
And in resonse to the first point, 'could new ones mean less was wasted'? - the answer is No. Reservoirs store water outdoors so they are subject to evaporation and are hence inherently wasteful (if you have the right sort of rocks it is better to store the water underground). Our high wastage arises from the water distribution network ... pressured water passing through old pipes with some holes in them. To fully address this problem we could replace all of the pipes but this would be would be excessively expensive and disruptive. Instead, the water companies are right to concentrate on leak detection. The best way to detect leaks would actually be to require water metering in all homes and businesses (note I am saying metering, not necessarilly metered charging). This would mean that we know when there is a mismatch between the amount of water actually used and the amount put into the system from the reservoir.
It is not difficult to add a 100Litre rainwater butt to the plastic downspout of a Victorian terraced house. This needs to be highlighted by anyone who can, to all those who should. (I have fitted 2 in the last 12months.) The amount of water sprayed onto gardens is embarrassing.
Thanks William. Do you have any details you could share about how to create one?
I didn't do anything as complicated as "create one". I went to the DIY superstore, bought one and followed the instructions. There were only 4 100L bottles left last Sunday. But the larger ones were still available. I don't have room for a 210 L one in my yard.https://www.diy.com/departments/outdoor-garden/watering-hoses-ponds/water-butts/water-butts/DIY585919.cat#icamp=SRD_Outdoor_WaterButts_L5
It is also not so difficult to create a raingarden. See the 'stories' tab under https://www.communityactionforwater.org/
Excellent way to get over facts about climate change, make it far more interesting and accessible.
Thanks James. Yes, maps and visualisations are so much more engaging than just words. Even I can understand it!
Fascinating article Daniel, thank you. With all the development going on in Sheffield City Centre hopefully the issue of more trees can be addressed through the planning system. Certainly the Grey-to-Green is hugely successful with everyone. Personally I would also like to see the rainwater collection system that was removed from the Winter Gardens (presumably because of costs) reinstated to water city centre trees and green spaces.
Thanks Bridget! Yes, it would be great if Grey to Green was extended throughout the city centre (and even beyond?). I didn’t know about the Winter Garden rainwater system. Something to look into.
Great stuff, good illustration of the power of maps!
Thanks🙏
Fantastic article, very engaging way to present the information.
Thanks Simon 🙏 Really glad you enjoyed it!
Fantastic article. More please!
Thanks Chris 🙏 Really glad you liked it.
Really interesting ... this feels like it needs a series of articles..so any more? Thanks.
Thanks Jill! We’ll try 😅
Lovely article for us raging cartophiles!!😁
I'm particularly struck by the data on reservoirs!
One small constructive criticism, the dark blue city boundary is nearly invisible against the dark background?
Pa
Good point. Looking back on it I have no idea why I didn't use white. Thanks, and glad you liked it.
A really interesting, thought provoking piece
Thanks Kay 🙏
Great story by Daniel, who has mapped the past and present to good effect, but it reflects poorly on district authorities planning departments who don’t scrutinise anywhere closely enough the water companies’ service and performance that should provide properly for us, or make them answerable about their future plans for water conservation. Give the water companies regular targets to achieve would be a start, and ask them what plans they have, and how, for the next 20 years, say, they intend to provide a continuous service would be another, plus, hold them to account using district authority and independent monitoring with the results made public at six monthly meetings, including making their chairman/directors attend the meetings. Keeping ‘on their case’ about wastage and leaks is a given, but making public their commitments to future plans needs steering just as strongly, joined with the backing of authorities’ officers and politicians. The shareholders are sat back happy taking easy dividends at present, and they won’t demand anything, whereas, incredibly, we can’t guarantee putting off a hosepipe ban!
"The largest nearby reservoir, Ladybower, belongs to Severn Trent Water and sends its water to the Midlands." Mostly true, although there is also an underground conduit/tunnel from Ladybower which supplies the Rivelin reservoirs, so Sheffield is actually 'plugged in' to the Derwent Valley catchments too.
That is amazing reservoir knowledge! Thank you.
Thank you [blushes]. The above-ground sighting towers, to ensure the tunnel was being driven on the correct alignment, still exist on the Hallam Moors.
Excellent article. Thank you!
Thanks for your considered comments Liz. I take your point about the reservoirs but could new ones not mean that less was wasted? And could being less concerned about people and clothes being clean be quite a tough sell?
Hi Dan, yes it might be a tough sell ... but it is in line with what so many young people are thinking about. It is a conversation we need to have more. Washing damages the garments and sends plastics and water down the drains, as well as using energy. The extent of laundry is excessive, and arguably unecessary, compared to 30 years ago.
And in resonse to the first point, 'could new ones mean less was wasted'? - the answer is No. Reservoirs store water outdoors so they are subject to evaporation and are hence inherently wasteful (if you have the right sort of rocks it is better to store the water underground). Our high wastage arises from the water distribution network ... pressured water passing through old pipes with some holes in them. To fully address this problem we could replace all of the pipes but this would be would be excessively expensive and disruptive. Instead, the water companies are right to concentrate on leak detection. The best way to detect leaks would actually be to require water metering in all homes and businesses (note I am saying metering, not necessarilly metered charging). This would mean that we know when there is a mismatch between the amount of water actually used and the amount put into the system from the reservoir.