Dear WAA members
I am pleased to report that a connection between the IBCs on the West side of the Communal Shed has been installed. Five hundred litres of water were released to the working dip-tank troughs earlier today. Work will continue to connect the remaining four IBCs together so that they too can feed water into the system. That’s the good news.
It is clear from the many emails that I have seen over the past week that there is one simple overriding issue driving the water debate: quite simply, many WAA tenants have insufficient water storage capacity on their own plots. If they had, the debate about frequency and time of day of water release to the troughs would be academic.
Our water system has been improved greatly since last summer. When we ran out of water in 2022, tenants had to bring their own water from home, or in some cases, resorted to stealing from other tenants’ water butts. Even though we have increased our water storage capability to twenty-thousand litres this year, there have been complaints that some water could not be released because the system is not fully connected. How did these complainers cope last year when there was no water at all?
The WAA is under no obligation to collect and provide water but we are doing our best. Those members who have been allotment tenants elsewhere before moving to Wembury openly recognise the fortunate position that we are in. For example, tenants at Plymouth allotments pay £80 each year for just a half plot and the cost of water they use is then charged on top of this. At other allotments in the country, provision of water is simply left to the tenant.
Standpipes are not really an option at Wembury due to the distance from the SWW mains network, metering, cost, risk, etc. Due to the elevation of Wembury allotment above the local springs and streams, a borehole is probably unworkable and prohibitively expensive; however, a short feasibility study with the National Trust and Environment Agency would answer this. We are also restricted (by the NT) to the number of sheds we can have around the periphery of the allotment site from which shed owners can collect rain water.
That said, this whole debate comes down insufficient water storage capacity on individual plots. I strongly urge those of you who have run out of water this month to install several more water butts. If cost is an issue, approach SWW to see if you qualify for a free water butt.
The WAA committee plan to source and install more IBCs to increase our capacity further. More news on this nearer the time. In the meantime, please ensure that you abide by the terms of your Tenancy Agreement with regard to drawing water. At this point in the year, by use of watering cans only. Your cooperation is appreciated.
Many thanks and best regards.
Martin Harrison
Secretary, WAA