I returned from holiday to find parched lawns and a deliciously cool babbling brook where the road had been. Up the hill stood signs warning motorists that work was in progress, and the source of the leak was surrounded by temporary barriers. The scene was quiet and peaceful, dappled by sunlight on flowing water, and entirely undisturbed by human effort.

The hosepipe ban takes a problem the government has created and tells us it’s ours

The hosepipe ban takes a problem the government has created and tells us it’s ours

My village is currently subject to a hosepipe ban, like much of England. Coming home yesterday I rescued my wilting hollyhocks – which are drought-tolerant plants – with a hosepipe, and I am willing to do so again. I am happy to leave the sprinkler in the shed and let the lawn parch, but not to watch plants die while a river of drinking water runs down my road. Conserving water is entirely reasonable, but carrying it in a bucket rather than using a hose is not a sacrifice I owe to a state working hard on my behalf.

In the early days after privatisation, the newly formed water companies allowed the amount of drinking water that simply poured out through leaks to rise, reaching a high of something like a hundred litres per person per day. Early regulatory........

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