On 06/03/2018 19:06, Tim+ wrote:
Andrew wrote:
On 05/03/2018 17:28, charles wrote:
In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Lots round here have been without water for 3 days now. Thames Water (in
part) blaming it on increased demand after the thaw. Interesting theory -
do people water their garden just after the snow goes?

There are other reasons than watering the garden for using more water. The
waste pipe to our bath froze up. (possibly caused by a dripping tap) So no
baths for 3 days. Other people wouldn't have had baths because their
boilers failed and they ddin't want cold baths.


Water pressure here has been poor for ever. To keep leaks down from the
ancient infrastructure. Perhaps it is time Thames Water was privatized so
they can raise money for investment. Or have I got that wrong? ;-)

Yes - the cold was sufficient to freeze some underground mains - which
burst - certainly in Sussex and Kent.


I think the problem is frost heave which snaps old-fashioned pipes, of
which there are many, many miles.

Add on 44 tonne lorries and 32 million cars.

You can probably ignore the cars. Many, many years ago, a TV programme
(it may have been Tomorrow's World) did a story about axle loading and
badly loaded trucks. This was back in the days of a 32 ton maximum. They
tested and concluded that one badly loaded truck caused as much
damage/wear and tear as 125,000 cars!

SteveW