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Author Topic: Water Regulations - plumbing requirments for plant nursery  (Read 2314 times)

arobwk

  • Joined Nov 2015
  • Kernow: where 2nd-home owners rule !
Water Regulations - plumbing requirments for plant nursery
« on: April 21, 2017, 06:34:09 pm »
Hi, I'm hoping other members can offer thoughts/experience regarding the following before I contact South West Water to discuss (hopefully better prepared/informed).

Am about to disconnect water supplies to an old water trough and an old water bowl with nudge-plate.  Neither needed right now and both very iffy, anyway, as regards water supply 'safety', so best they are gone.  The idea was that I would then substitute a single standpipe with union tap for the water bowl (which is smack in the centre of my land) to provide potable water and hose-pipe connection for watering plant beds as necessary.  Of course, I then started investigating water reg's - aah!  "Agricultural" use of union tap normally assigned Fluid Category 5.   Ok, I might add in a bib tap for potable water outlet, but still need to work around the hose-pipe supply issue, ideally avoiding the usual FC5 air gap requirement (which would need a storage tank and a pump to pressurize the supply to hose-pipe - to note, I do not have mains electricity, although I do have a 500W generator, but would prefer not to have to use it and buy a water pump).

As my activity is horticultural (no live-stock for the foreseeable future) and the outlet will be remote from any potential hydrocarbon etc contamination, I'm hoping a risk assessment will achieve a 'dispensation', i.e. a lower Fluid Category classification for the outlet.

Before I make my approach to SWW, any thoughts would be most gratefully received!
« Last Edit: April 21, 2017, 07:19:21 pm by arobwk »

bazzais

  • Joined Jan 2010
    • Allt Y Coed Farm and Campsite
Re: Water Regulations - plumbing requirments for plant nursery
« Reply #1 on: May 06, 2017, 09:29:52 pm »
Non return valve to the mains water supply for you own personal safety.

Dont involve the water company with any other things or youll end up spending thosands.

I have alot of water above me - as it take so long to get it up there - if there (and is all the time) a drop in pressure you dont want  s**t syphoning doene
« Last Edit: May 06, 2017, 09:33:12 pm by bazzais »

bazzais

  • Joined Jan 2010
    • Allt Y Coed Farm and Campsite
Re: Water Regulations - plumbing requirments for plant nursery
« Reply #2 on: May 06, 2017, 09:34:33 pm »
As leftfield as it it is - keep the pressure

pgkevet

  • Joined Jul 2011
Re: Water Regulations - plumbing requirments for plant nursery
« Reply #3 on: May 07, 2017, 09:08:37 am »
When i remodelled my clinic it got inspected since the new water regs came out at the same time and got clasified as needing cat5 backflow protection. Now you'ld think that was reasonable and at first glance it is.. but then water guys started demanding the appropiate gaps on all sinks in the building including the 2 residential flats above, cat5 protection on washing machines, water supplies in the dental area etc etc. I suggested i shelled out for a best quality backflow protection on the mains into the building as per australian rules - but no, they wouldn't have that. I suggested backflow valves on all the watersupplies to each tap.. but no, that would have been fine if pre-existing but not allowed restrospectively. I asked them to recommend tap types they'ld be happy with.. but no, they claim not to be able to tell you what to use.. just able to criticise what you install. In the end I compromised with a hugely expensive cat5 protected washing machine that i rented at the price of a new domestic washing machine per month and then got a friendly plumber to fit backflow protection on all taps and make it look older style.. and then claimed I hadn't known it had been in fact installed pre reg change...

Bluntly the answer is to make your changes with simple in-line backflow valves and keep silent and wait to see if you get inspected ever.

the daftness of these regs is that they don't apply to domestic houses with say lots of nappies being rinsed out or sick people with communicable diseases in long term own home care etc. I'm darned certain that a housing estate of young parents is a bigger risk than a single clinic. It's politics.. make it sound like gov cares but only hammer the businesses rather than mass voters.

If it's a significant risk then there should be aussie style backflow on all mains to each house and all taps should be high mounted and all shower heads etc should be spring-loaded and all hoses should have backflow heads.

landroverroy

  • Joined Oct 2010
Re: Water Regulations - plumbing requirments for plant nursery
« Reply #4 on: May 07, 2017, 02:31:06 pm »
I'm a great believer that rules were meant for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools.
In this case, as with so much of officialdom, I take the rules to be a guide as to the ideal situation. So, having read, marked, learnt and inwardly digested them, I would then make an intelligent decision as to what the end result is meant to be,  and that's what I would aim for in a way that fitted my individual situation.
Couldn't agree more that the last thing you want to do is to involve the water company!
Rules are made:
  for the guidance of wise men
  and the obedience of fools.

arobwk

  • Joined Nov 2015
  • Kernow: where 2nd-home owners rule !
Re: Water Regulations - plumbing requirments for plant nursery
« Reply #5 on: May 25, 2017, 01:23:20 am »
Thanks kindly for your comments all:  been too busy to consider further due to daughter's temporary return from Oz.
I'm really in two minds about taking a chance on getting found out after the event:  my supply is registered/referred to as "for water trough" (which hasn't been used for years) and I will suddenly be using water for irrigation in periodic spurts (pun intended).  Will they notice/ponder/inspect I wonder:  once upon a time they probably wouldn't, but will they in this day and age?!  (I ponder because, much to my surprise, I was visited by the EA very soon after registering a number of Waste Exemptions for the site.  That event makes me a little bit cautious about assuming that 'they' are all too busy to bother with little ol' me). 
Not sure yet which way I will go!

 

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