A LADY has found a genius way to water the grass in her garden WITHOUT having to use a hosepipe.
The hosepipe ban affects roughly two million households – and you could be fined a whopping £1,000 for using one in your garden or to wash your car.
South East Water has confirmed a “temporary usage ban” covering Kent and Sussex from today.
South East Water, which last year lost 88.7m litres of water a day through leaking pipes, will be the second water company in the UK to announce a hosepipe ban this summer.
Southern Water recently announced a ban affecting nearly a million of its customers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
The ban prohibits hosepipes being used to water gardens or clean cars and ornamental ponds and private swimming pools cannot be filled.
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But one savvy lady has found a loophole through the ban.
Posting to Facebook group Family Lowdown Tips and Ideas, she said:
"My hubby has sorted the hosepipe ban issue for our garden, so now we have flowing water all over the grass.
"Clever boy, he's undone the washing machine pipe so water goes in the garden instead of draining for a bit."
And commenters were going wild too, with one posting: "Great idea!"
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However, do be careful with this hack – it might not be the most environmentally-friendly.
A spokesperson from The Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering told The Sun: "Using washing machine water onto a garden is not good practice.
"It holds lots of chemicals in the water and this might drain into the water table or streams nearby, which is why they are connected into a foul sewer drain in the first place.
"Adding to the fact we wash many dirty clothes, such as work wear that is contaminated from things like oil etc, this hack could easily spread germs and bacteria, something we have just fought our way out of!
"When water is recycled, it has been filtered, this is not happening here, so care for the environment and the spreading of germs/bacteria is paramount.
"We should all now take water shortages much more seriously as this event is what we face even more in the future."
You also want to avoid breaking your machine if you can help it – it could be a costly fix, and machines suck up enough money in bills as it is.
How do I work out the cost of my machine?
Each appliance is labelled from A to G to determine how energy efficient it is, with A being the most, and G the least.
You can check the information pack that the item came with, or search for the model online to find it's rating.
You should also look out for the number of kilowatt hours (kWh) the appliance uses a year to work out exactly how much it costs to run.
A kWh of electricity currently costs 28p a unit, so multiply the annual kWh usage figure by 0.28 to get the cost of energy consumption.
For example, if your washing machine uses 150kWh a year, you multiply 150 by 0.28 to get 42 – so the machine costs £42 a year to run.
Always read your instructions as well to let you know how your machine works – it might tip you off on what NOT to do, too.
Never mess about with it if you're not sure how it works.
What other ways are there to water the grass without a hose?
There are always plenty of simple hacks on the go.
Use a watering can for one – all you have to do is fill it from the tap.
And if you have a paddling pool, use the excess water when you drain it to water the grass.
Paddling pools can cost enough as it is, so make sure you're using it as cost-effectively as you can.
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