anyone else with a borehole?

[SteamyTea]

14 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Why “twice for rainwater”? You pay to have your sewerage treated based on a fraction of the water consumed, not metered rainwater

There is an assumption, based on the old rates system, about how much water runs off and hits the highway.  Shown as a separate charge.

Then that is added to the rainwater that is a fraction based on the usage.

If I was to install a borehole legally, all I would save is the imported water, which costs about the same as everyone else's (£1-1.50 m³).

 

 

[joe90]

Ah not come across that before, glad I live in the middle of no where

 

 1. Fixed charge:
Properties up to £50 RV – with surface water Properties up to £50 RV – no surface water Properties over £50 RV – with surface water Properties over £50 RV – no surface water

[SteamyTea]

5 minutes ago, joe90 said:

not come across that before, glad I live in the middle of no where

Does not really change the overall price, just an accounting breakdown.

 

Still the beaches are clean till next week.

This Week

Dog waste may harm nature reserve biodiversity by fertilising the soil

 

Dogs’ urine and faeces bring large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus into suburban nature reserves, which could be harmful to plant biodiversity.

Taking your dog for a walk in a nature reserve could harm biodiversity because its faeces and urine bring in excess nitrogen and phosphorus to the ecosystem.

While the effects of dogs on wildlife, through disease transmission and disturbance, have been well-studied, little is known about the impact of their waste.

To investigate, Pieter De Frenne at Ghent University in Belgium and his colleagues monitored the number of dogs at four sites in nature reserves less than 5 kilometres from the centre of Ghent between February 2020 and June 2021. They included forests, grassland and a meadow that were both popular for recreation and considered important for biodiversity.

In total, the researchers counted 1629 dogs across the sites, which corresponded to 1530 dogs per hectare per year. They assumed dogs spent one hour at the two larger sites and half an hour at the two smaller ones, on average. Using known values of nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in dog faeces and urine, they then calculated the amounts that dogs would have brought into these ecosystems.

They estimate that dogs bring 5 kilograms of phosphorus per hectare per year and 11 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare per year into suburban nature reserves.

Read more: Animal magnetism: Why dogs do their business pointing north

“That’s 50 per cent of the nitrogen that comes in via the rain,” says De Frenne. However, this assumes that the dogs’ owners don’t take any of the waste away with them.

These figures are significant, says De Frenne. Too much phosphorus or nitrogen – common components of fertilisers – in the soil can lead to loss of plant biodiversity and habitat degradation.

“Dogs bring substantial amounts of nutrients to nature reserves and woodlands that should not be neglected,” says De Frenne. “Dog owners should be aware that their dog is behaving as a fertiliser, and if this is not yet the case, pick up their faeces more.”

 

The study found that if owners picked up all of the dogs’ faeces, this would reduce the nitrogen input by 57 per cent and the phosphorus input by 97 per cent.

Journal reference: Ecological Solutions, DOI: 10.1002/2688-8319.12128

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Chen Ly

[Pocster]

Title instantly made me think of some people 

[saveasteading]

6 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

then twice for rainwater. What comes off our roofs, and what falls on our property and goes into the streets.

It is normal that there is no charge for rainwater that you keep on site, but you have to ask. Can that apply to you?

The sewage rate usually includes an allowance for rainwater, so is reduced if you can show that you keep all yours.

[Ferdinand]

3 hours ago, pocster said:

Title instantly made me think of some people 

 

You talk to yourself too much.

[SteamyTea]

24 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

It is normal that there is no charge for rainwater that you keep on site, but you have to ask. Can that apply to you?

The sewage rate usually includes an allowance for rainwater, so is reduced if you can show that you keep all yours.

Sadly no, too small a garden area and built on granite. Looked into it a few years ago.

Cornwall is a bit of a special case. The water is normal price, just the sewage side is expensive to make sure the beaches and ocean are clean enough for dogs to shit on and in. Better for tourism to have blind seals as they tend not to attack emmet's kids who throw stones at them.

 

[saveasteading]

48 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

too small a garden area

How many water butts could you contrive? And a garden pond: the fish drink it all day.

[SteamyTea]

9 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

How many water butts could you contrive? And a garden pond: the fish drink it all day.

Not many.

If I could dig a deep hole I would, there is a reason my house is 6 foot above the road, they would not allow blasting to break up the rock.

 

I still think if I put in an unregistered borehole and used that for the bath, it would pay for itself in a decade.

Could claim I was just getting a GSHP fitted.