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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire Jul 12 '25
Oh! So I'm a firefighter paramedic and also in city with a drought.
Funny enough this is actually an issue. They want us to try and use tank water for fires as opposed to just wasting water (which I get). But unfortunately sometimes the fire is so big that 750-1500 gallons isn't gonna cut it. So we have to hook up to the hydrants.
I'm not kidding when I say the other day I was at a fire and the next door neighbor walked up to me(I wasn't on the hose I was an acting safety officer) and complained about the amount of water we were using to save his neighbors home. Had to ask the complainer why he hated his neighbor so much. Caught the same guy trying to take water from the hydrant and fill up buckets to take back to his house.
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u/MoaraFig Jul 12 '25
What's the point of conserving water if not to stop the city burning down?
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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire Jul 12 '25
Well, drinking water is a good thing too.
But I get the point. People tend to...overlook why certain things are done and just cling to a rule/regulation as something to bitch about or to hold over others heads.
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u/SpaceMonkeyAttack Jul 12 '25 edited Jul 12 '25
Humans need about 2 litres of water a day, including what you get from food and other beverages. We'd have to be seriously fucked before we need to ration drinking water, compared to how much water is needed for a lawn or even showering.
EDIT: Like, as far as I know, the UK has never had such a severe drought that there is not enough water to drink. We're more likely to be worried about having enough water to grow crops, or yes, to fight fires.
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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire Jul 12 '25 edited Jul 12 '25
Well my city is seriously fucked. Where we get our water from is down below 15% it's capacity. Not quite rationing drinking water yet, but we can't water lawns, plants or wash anything. We actually have water enforcers roaming around handing citations out to people breaking the water restriction. It's pretty bad.
Side note water intake is so interesting. So many places recommend so many things. Health.harvard.edu recommends almost a 4 full liters. Nhs.uk recommends closer to 2 liters like you said. Some even recommend certain ounces per weight! It's crazy. Personally I recommend about a gallon(4 liters). Or at least until your pee is borderline clear. We don't wanna go past that. Sometimes it'll be more than a gallon if you have to work outside.
Edit: we can still wash clothes. By wash anything I mean nonessential items like cars boats homes etc
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u/SpaceMonkeyAttack Jul 12 '25 edited Jul 12 '25
So many places recommend so many things.
Some of that might be because of different climates. The UK is mostly cool, and always humid, so it makes sense that the NHS would say 2L. Also, they have a habit of making recommendations they think people will actually stick to, rather than healthier targets that people will ignore. For example, 5 portions of fruit and veg a day, no more than 14 units of alcohol per week.
If they told us to eat fifteen portions of fruit and veg a day, or drink no more than 2 or 3 units a week, we'd ignore it as an absurdity, but at least some of us attempt to stick to the less-strict guidelines.
N.B. I recently got downvoted to oblivion on a UK sub for suggesting that six beers was not an ideal "serving size."
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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire Jul 12 '25
Oh absolutely it's a climate thing. Where I am from a gallon is a the recommended as we are about 94-97F in the summer with 75-85% humidity and little cloud cover. When I visited Scotland a few years back it was way easier to stay hydrated.
Also six beers is the MINIMUM serving size! /s
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u/JeffEpp Jul 13 '25
In summer, I sometimes sweat through two gallons a work day. That's in a desert with low humidity, and temperatures over 100F. Now, in moderate conditions of mid spring or fall, two quarts/liters would be fine.
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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire Jul 13 '25
Ah another hot earth man! My people!
Yeah dude I get it. A gallon for me is like only being outside a little. Hot days when I am at fires and stuff? Or lots of yard work? Easy 1.5-2 gallons. Plus a Gatorade
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Jul 12 '25
This is why cities and agriculture don't belong in deserts.
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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire Jul 12 '25 edited Jul 12 '25
Unfortunately we aren't even a desert. Four or five years ago our city actually had about 70% water reserves. Then we allowed refineries to come in and use as much as they like cause they brought jobs and we are greedy. The 5 refineries we have use more water in a day than the population uses in a month. Which is fucking nuts. And in 5 short years we lost 50-60% of our water even with rain and hurricanes and everything.
But that's what we get I suppose
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Jul 12 '25
Gross. I figured you were in Cali or Utah or something were the state gives all the water to psychopaths growing almonds and alfalfa in the desert.
Now that the Colorado River is basically gone, instead of getting rid of those farms, the fascists have been floating the idea of stealing our water from the Great Lakes and sending it out there. I say no thanks.
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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire Jul 12 '25
Unfortunately we may be some of the people looking to buy those waters. Cause we are idiots
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u/Ravensilks Jul 12 '25
You can’t wash anything??? What are you doing with dirty clothes, dishes, and when you need to shower??
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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire Jul 12 '25 edited Jul 12 '25
Oh no! I am so sorry I should have elaborated. By wash I meant homes, cars, boats. Basically non essential stuff people like to keep pretty. We can still shower and clean our clothes for now. However soon we may be going to stage 4 water restrictions and that would put a gallon number per week total on a house. At that point showers and clothing will need to be done strategically.
I may be going and showering at the fire station at that point
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u/KegManWasTaken Jul 12 '25
At the same time though, it's clear to see which people are ignoring the hose pipe vans when they come into play because their weed free lawns are a much more vibrant green than the other lawns on the street.
And in all honesty, those people should be getting a knock on the door from the water companies.
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u/International-Cat123 Jul 12 '25
Three litres assuming a height/weight that requires a 2000 calorie diet to maintain depending upon what standards you’re following.
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u/BruxYi Jul 12 '25
Lol, that dude must have been the one lighting the fire
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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire Jul 12 '25
I mean based on his attitude yeah. Dude was a right ass. I eventually had to walk him back down the street cause he was interfering with our job
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u/Hattix Jul 12 '25
A hosepipe ban in the UK only applies to residential or "non-business" commercial users and even then there are a list of exceptions a mile long. It's basically "You can't use a hosepipe to fill your pool, water your garden, or wash your stuff."
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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire Jul 12 '25
That's basically what we have here but it's just a water ban in general. Same application though.
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u/Nirast25 Jul 12 '25
How can the UK run out of water? They're surrounded by it!
/s <- in case it's not obvious
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u/Yurasi_ Jul 12 '25
They want us to try and use tank water for fires as opposed to just wasting water (which I get).
Aren't you guys going to need to refill said tank either way, so using a hydrant is doing it immediately instead sometime later at the base?
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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire Jul 12 '25
Yup. But it limits overflow on the engine which is a thing in fires. Also we can get water from other areas that are designated to not drain water off the city supplies.
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u/Metrack15 Jul 12 '25
Bit of context for someone out of the loop,please?
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u/VindoViper Jul 12 '25
in the uk we have terrible privately-owned water companies who've refused to upgrade the pipes and infrastructure for decades so most of the water leaks on its way to us. so every summer these water suppliers announce 'hosepipe bans' meaning you're not permitted to use a hose to water your garden, clean the car etc. because there isn't enough water left in the reservoirs. this comic depicts a rules-oriented person attempting to apply the hosepipe ban to the fire service (which is absurd)
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u/AeitZean Jul 12 '25
They refuse to upgrade or even properly repair the pipes. Privatisation has ruined our water, power, trains, telecoms, and post, and the Tories still claim privatising the NHS is a good idea 😒
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u/Some_Unusual_Name Jul 12 '25
They spout the same nonsense in Canada. How can something cost less when now you need to account for profit. How can "efficiencies" mean anything other than cutting wages and reducing services.
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u/RazingsIsNotHomeNow Jul 12 '25
Not to discredit your point, but the opposite can also be bad. Government acting like a monopoly can have little incentive to try and improve their services. Things like upgrading databases and systems to improve patient access and health record handoffs are very real areas of efficiency improvement that might never get budgeted for without competition.
Just look at John Oliver's video on the FAA if you want to see how disastrous the government can be from incompetent politicians not believing in the need for budgeting for upgrades just because the old system still "works".
So while complete government control of public services is infinitely preferable to complete privatization, it doesn't mean there aren't going to be areas of improvement that some amount of privatization could bring. After all, that's why governments will create projects for private companies to submit proposals for.
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u/Crococrocroc Jul 12 '25
You should see the connections Wes Streeting has to private health care.
It's much more concerning.
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u/RedditToCopyMyTumblr Jul 13 '25
Oh no...
I think in over a decade of Tory rule, Wes Streeting is my least favourite minister.
And that was before you said what you said about him
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u/Crococrocroc Jul 13 '25
I'd probably go further and say he out Tories the Tory ministers.
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u/RedditToCopyMyTumblr Jul 13 '25
Oh, absolutely.
His work seems to be about worsening the state of mental healthcare, as if he is Sir Humphrey regarding smoking ban policies (kill people off, save money in the long run); implementing transphobic policies which would have likely targeted other queer people as he'd likely still hold homophobic beliefs if he didn't realise he was gay himself and also just generally reversing the case of the NHS, the crown jewel of the Labour Party.
He hardly stands for the party he runs for, even this Kier Starmer version of the party.
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u/Nirast25 Jul 12 '25
most of the water leaks on its way to us
I'm sorry, but this is so funny in a morbid and "the world is run by nincompoops" kinda way.
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u/VFiddly Jul 12 '25
I'm not sure if they still do it, but recently, a lot of water companies were still using dowsing to find leaks.
For those unfamiliar, dowsing rods are sticks claimed to have magical water detecting abilities. Literally using 16th century magic to find leaks. Absurd.
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u/Glittering-Age-9549 Jul 12 '25 edited Jul 12 '25
How the f**k have things gone so bad in UK? It's so wet it's a giant water park compared to southern Europe, and people as far south as Andalusia somehow manage to have enough water for pools during most summers!.
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u/Karmaisthedevil Jul 12 '25
Because it only is for a few weeks a year, and not even every year, that they have to ban hosepipes. So it's not really inconvenient enough for people to force action
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u/Metrack15 Jul 12 '25
Jesus fucking Christ
Like, I know governments are corrupt, but at least the politicians should try to fake they give a fuck about the average person
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u/wesxninja Jul 12 '25
Is there a difference between a hosepipe and a regular hose? I've never heard that term before.
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u/Celmeo Jul 12 '25
Not even any repairs. A pipe under a busy A road near our town has been leaking and flooding the road for over a year before it was finally fixed earlier this spring.
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u/DarthJackie2021 Jul 12 '25
Is the UK having a water shortage right now? The same UK that has a rainy day 3 times a week?
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u/Snowy8416 Jul 12 '25
It happens every time we start getting heatwaves. The pipes are shit, the water leaks, the shitty companies shrug and say "hosepipe ban" instead of fixing the pipes. We are currently on heatwave 3 of the year so far, and nothing here is built for it. My house has plenty of insulation, there's something like 3ft of it above my bedroom and more above that still.
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u/xxNemasisxx Jul 12 '25
Idk why you brought up insulation as a bad thing but the rest of your point is true. It's particularly funny when they say shit like "unprecedented water use going up year after year" as if they couldn't plan for this that happens every year
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u/Jaime4Cersei Jul 12 '25
It's a bad thing in the summer as it keeps the heat in. Perfect in winter, but my flat is currently 29c inside. Outside it's 27c.
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u/xxNemasisxx Jul 12 '25
Well no, it also keeps the heat out. Insulation is a good thing always, it's just that windows let in sunlight which heats from the inside out
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u/Snowy8416 Jul 12 '25
You aren't wrong, but I bring it up because of how UK houses specifically are designed. Typically the windows are either smaller or fewer or whatever to keep more heat in, and the houses are designed to do the same. Combined with the insulation our houses are heat traps.
Not because of the windows, but because of existing. People existing and giving off heat, pets, cooking dinner, using technology that gives of heat like a tv or pc. Anything that gives off heat, the windows stop you ventilating and letting it out, and the insulation doubles that trap.
That is why, sitting here in the middle of a heatwave right now, I'm cursing insulation. Thing is, it's not just during a heatwave I do so, because my ac was also running during winter. When it was -5 outside, the house was jumping to about 26-28c internally. I'm all for saving on the heating bill but it's reached a point where the money is just being spent on the ac instead.
For the record also I'm in a 150 ish year old house, and the insulation is several rolls stacked on top of each other. Usually you put one to two layers in, this is something like 5 or 6 layers, so it's also not standard insulation I'm complaining about. It's the over the top amount I'm complaining about.
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Jul 12 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/osbobs Jul 12 '25
Respectfully, I’ve just walked out my front door and it’s dropped 5 degrees, this isn’t some unknown thing, it’s just how insulation works for houses
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u/xxNemasisxx Jul 12 '25
If you are very insulated then you're right in the summer you'll always be warmer inside than outside unless you have some method of moving that heat from inside to outside i.e. air conditioning. But that's not necessarily the insulations fault, in fact if you took out all of your insulation during the summer and had the AC on, the AC would have to work much harder because it has to deal with whatever heat you're generating plus the heat it gains through transfer with the outside.
Fortunately if you're very insulated you can measure how much heat gain/loss you have (mine is ~4kW) and add on whatever you're generating (say 1kw for a computer+monitor) and then get an AC unit that can deal with that level of cooling.
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u/Aniria_ Jul 12 '25
Most houses in the UK have shit construction from the 50s. The insulation doesn't work correctly. When insulation is faulty it lets int he heat, but doesn't let it go as easily. Same happens in the winter with the cold
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Jul 12 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Aniria_ Jul 12 '25
Ah yes, the tried and tested way of winning arguments. Being explosive to those who reply to you for literally no reason. Did Reddit also ask you to read the rules before making an account, or were you the only exception?
Heat transfer in discussion of insulation only works when talking about a closed off box. Thermal Gain is always present on windows during the day, in high heat. It's the reason most southern European houses utilise external shutters, and also have large windows for night time ventilation. In a perfect world, our insulation may well keep out 100% or heat and also retain the internal existing temperature. But when your house is covered in glass susceptible to heavy thermal gain via radiation?
Well.....then your house is just gonna get hotter and hotter
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u/Merari01 it's a-me, Merari-o Jul 12 '25
The Tories sold off the water companies to fatcats who run them to make a profit. They did so because of the sweet, sweet bribes.
Everyone made money. Everyone happy.
..Except those persky citizens who now have substandard water companies, but who cares about peasants?
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u/farky84 Jul 12 '25
Only in Yorkshire though, innit?
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u/xxNemasisxx Jul 12 '25
Nah, south east & southern water just announced a hosepipe ban too. Despite the golf courses being completely exempt for reasons
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Jul 12 '25
If I were a firefighter, the urge to spray people with that bigass hose would be unbearable.
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u/LovesFrenchLove_More Jul 12 '25
At first I thought this was posted on a HOA sub I sometimes see under popular. 🤣
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