Water board regulations mean no hoses on the farm

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Vodkagirly

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So the waterboard (Northumbria) came around and advised that no hoses that could touch the ground are allowed on the farm due to a risk of contaminating the water supply. I wasn't there and yard manager does the minimum possible so now all taps have been adapted so that we no longer can attach a hose. Its a nightmare for cleaning horses now and are unable to cold hose.
I know on another farm they have got around regulations by having one of the high booms for a hose- anyone know what they are called? I have had a search but not found them.
Any other ideas - its very hard to get any thing done the easier/ cheaper the better.
 
Vodkagirly said:
I can't believe he has let them saw off all our taps for the sake of a £25 device. The taps had a screw bit on the end and they have been cut off so we couldn't attach them or a hose now.
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I had new taps fitted that prevent backflow, several years ago now, so still able to use hoses, if we had not done it they would have cut the ends off when they returned to check but we were given a few weeks to get it done.
 
Ridiculous. The problem with hoses is that water sits in them. As soon as the water leaves the mains it is potentially contaminated. Any disruption to the mains supply could cause a change in pressure that sucks this water back into the mains supply and could cause a public health issue. Most things that run on mains water (like your washing machine) have inbuilt backflow prevention so you don’t have to think about the risk. So as far as I’m aware all you need is a device to prevent backflow, therefore negating the risk and you are sorted. I’m prepared to be corrected but that is my understanding.
 
We had the water board around a few years ago, they said we had to change taps so we couldn't attach a hose. They weren't interested in devices that stopped backflow and said only way to use a hose was by having a high level water tank that fed the hose. They haven't returned to check if we are still complying 4 years later !
 
I only had my water connected a couple of years ago. My tap had to have a non return valve on it (a double check valve) that was all. It was easy to find a fit and not much more expensive than a basic tap.
 
meesha said:
We had the water board around a few years ago, they said we had to change taps so we couldn't attach a hose. They weren't interested in devices that stopped backflow and said only way to use a hose was by having a high level water tank that fed the hose. They haven't returned to check if we are still complying 4 years later !
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They may not be interested but I would interested if they have case law that says they are not sufficient to comply .
 
I can't post the link but have found a good guide the WRAS Agricultural Premises Guide that explains better about what devices are suitable for what risk categories. It may be that a simple double check valve/tap attachment is appropriate from a domestic outdoor tap, but not one on an agricultural/equine yard.
 
meleeka said:
I only had my water connected a couple of years ago. My tap had to have a non return valve on it (a double check valve) that was all. It was easy to find a fit and not much more expensive than a basic tap.
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ this, sounds like this particular Board are being nobs, maybe boss doesn't like horse riders or something
 
As far as I am aware, there has never been any outbreak of any pathogen directly traceable to private premises - they've all been down to the water companies themselves flushing sewage in the wrong pipe, allowing contamination of their boreholes and that's quite besides overdosing their water with 1000 times more Aluminium than they should have done and poisoning people.

Their sudden concern with possible back syphoning is pedantic in the extreme but the stupid rules they follow are created by faceless bureaucrats (and British ones at that!) when every sensible person is asleep. For a back syphon to occur - your hose would have to be completely watertight ( a rare event on a yard in my experience!) and left in a muddle of waste water - there then has to be a vacuum caused in the main ( say a leak somewhere else) and the next time the tap is opened it sucks instead of blows. It is a very rare event and when it does, the guys repairing said leak miles away stuff the damn pipe full of Chlorine utterly sterilising everything.

In my opinion the only reason premises have been visited is so they can have a good shufty about looking for other abuses.

Contrary to another post - one's washing machine/ dishwasher etc., does not normally have an antisyphonic valve - it's meerly an electronic tap that only opens when the thing is filling and locked by a spring when it isn't - as all the machines I can think of are open vented internally - they couldn't back syphon even if they wanted to.
 
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I've never heard of this! Are you absolutely certain the water board have been to the farm. Could the yard/farm owner be using it as an excuse to ban hoses to reduce the water bill??? Just putting the thought 'out there'.
 
Utter lunacy.

A prize to anyone who can name any other EU country which actually applies this level of mindless pedantry...

And people think it will all get better when we leave the EU. Yeah right.
 
kathantoinette said:
I've never heard of this! Are you absolutely certain the water board have been to the farm. Could the yard/farm owner be using it as an excuse to ban hoses to reduce the water bill??? Just putting the thought 'out there'.
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Yes I'm pretty sure that they have been. They also wanted to do the same at another farm locally but the farmer made changes like the water boom so they were satisfied.
 
To comply with building regs all outdoor taps should have anti syphoning devices. I have replaced most of my hosepipe with blue water pipe, and water troughs with ball cocks. If the are being a-holes I would run it into a water tank and run the hose from that.
 
I had one of my taps sawn off a few years ago, only have a barn in a field, not a proper yard. They never came back for any inspections and they didn't see the second tap!.
It seems random who they target as the two large neighbouring yards still have their taps!!.
They said anti syphon taps were not good enough, only an overhear boom where the hose wouldn't reach the floor would be acceptable
 
When we had our mains water improved, nearly twenty years ago, the plumber fitted a no-return valve on the inlet to the house, which he said was part of the water company's policy. The thing that, as an aside, I find interesting, is that these are now comercial companies, for profit organisations, which are still using legislation which was created for publicly owned utility companies (it is the same for gas and electricity suppliers, with their rights to access properties etc)
 
OldFogie said:
As far as I am aware, there has never been any outbreak of any pathogen directly traceable to private premises - they've all been down to the water companies themselves flushing sewage in the wrong pipe, allowing contamination of their boreholes and that's quite besides overdosing their water with 1000 times more Aluminium than they should have done and poisoning people.

Their sudden concern with possible back syphoning is pedantic in the extreme but the stupid rules they follow are created by faceless bureaucrats (and British ones at that!) when every sensible person is asleep. For a back syphon to occur - your hose would have to be completely watertight ( a rare event on a yard in my experience!) and left in a muddle of waste water - there then has to be a vacuum caused in the main ( say a leak somewhere else) and the next time the tap is opened it sucks instead of blows. It is a very rare event and when it does, the guys repairing said leak miles away stuff the damn pipe full of Chlorine utterly sterilising everything.

In my opinion the only reason premises have been visited is so they can have a good shufty about looking for other abuses.

Contrary to another post - one's washing machine/ dishwasher etc., does not normally have an antisyphonic valve - it's meerly an electronic tap that only opens when the thing is filling and locked by a spring when it isn't - as all the machines I can think of are open vented internally - they couldn't back syphon even if they wanted to.
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You have obviously never heard of the venturi effect that can suck dirty water back into a main . It doesnt need to have a leak on it . The speed of water travelling down a main will cause pockets of lower pressure that will suck water back in a pipe it is very prevalent around tee fittings that reduce the bore of a pipe momentarily.
 
YorksG said:
When we had our mains water improved, nearly twenty years ago, the plumber fitted a no-return valve on the inlet to the house, which he said was part of the water company's policy. The thing that, as an aside, I find interesting, is that these are now comercial companies, for profit organisations, which are still using legislation which was created for publicly owned utility companies (it is the same for gas and electricity suppliers, with their rights to access properties etc)
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Its to do with consumer safety so they should have every right . I know its opening another can of worms but why should a nationalised company have different access rights to a private company under these circumstances they still have everybodies interest at heart.
 
Some water companies are perfectly happy with them ! Others arent usually pointing out there has been evidence of failure due to frost damage. Those that dont like them are certainly in the minority.
 
YorksG said:
When we had our mains water improved, nearly twenty years ago, the plumber fitted a no-return valve on the inlet to the house, which he said was part of the water company's policy. The thing that, as an aside, I find interesting, is that these are now comercial companies, for profit organisations, which are still using legislation which was created for publicly owned utility companies (it is the same for gas and electricity suppliers, with their rights to access properties etc)
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So you would like your gas company and water company to go to court before they have a right to stop a neighbour's leak blowing up or flooding your house?

Why shouldn't they have the same rights, they are doing the same job? What in heaven's name has making a profit got to do with it?
 
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