Water on sites......
Have just been to Allotment to put out some seedlings to harden off. Checked water situation as it is usually turned off to avoid freezing the taps. BUT I can't believe it, the Parks Dept has changed them to a horizontal push design. Not only will it be time consuming to stand there filling watering cans but just trying to balance them under the taps and lining up the cans will be a chore. We also have several older members on our Site - are they supposed to lug cans of water 30 to 40 metres? Any other Allotments changed to this type of watering system - is there some EU edict that has to be adhered to? Grrrrrrr
Our tap was out of action for about a year. It leaked so badly the nearby ground was a swamp and you could only turn it on and off with a monkey wrench which local kids kept stealing! We were thrilled when the powers that be finally put in a new one.
But seriously, it does sound like your push tap would be hard for older allotmenteers. I suppose they've done it to save water.
Hello all
In my opinion there should be no taps on allotments at all because you will always get certain people who will abuse the system by connecting hose pipes Our site has tanks every 30yards or so into which you dip your can or bucket and a cut off valve turns the water off when the tank has refilled similar to a toilet cystern. As for the old boys carrying water if they haven't fixed something up to catch water off the shed roof or greenhouse then I'm sorry
Happy gardening
Lottyman
The roof is made of plywood what can i do to clean it and prevent it from happening again.How to get rid of mold on my wooden shed roof?
Hi
Scrub the shed roof with Armillatox let it dry then cover with roofing felt bought from Wilko's for about £8 a roll
Happy gardening
Lottyman
At the Cymdeithas y Dalar scheme we decided against stand pipes because of the fear of wastage.
We installed agricultural sheep drinking troughs which can fit two watering cans in at the same time --just. We spaced them out so that no plot is more than 4 plots away. At busy times we have two or three people collecting water at the same time but they do not mind because they spend a lot of the time nattering.
Transport methods to carry water include buckets in a wheelbarrow, filling large plastic drums and rolling them, or getting neighbour to help.
This all adds to the appreciation of water as a valuable resource encouraging community spirit.
Brian
We have three taps spaced along the track into the site and which runs along the bottom edge. There's invariably massively long hosepipes running up the tracks to the top of the site, getting driven across or walked on, with resultant splits and leakages turning the "roadway" boggy around the tap areas. We are currently discussing running pipes part way uphill to reduce the problem. People do have water butts, etc. but the taps are very useful.
As for usage, it varies from plot to plot: some have livestock in various numbers, whilst other plots are purely fruit and veg. Of course, we all pay the same rent to the Council - which covers water costs.
As a new site, we are working things out as we go along, so things might change in the further-off future - who knows?:
Hello Graham
I would just like to say that in my opinion hosepipes should not be allowed on allotments at all The reason - If you have to use cans you take what you need If you use a hosepipe you leave it running when its not needed
All the council run sites that I know of hosepipes are not allowed anyway. On our site we have troughs which you dip your can in and then it automatically refills like a toilet cistern
Happy gardening
Lottyman