When will Sheffield Peace Gardens' fountains run during hosepipe ban

The Star, Sheffield

A hosepipe ban begins in Yorkshire on July 11, but how will Sheffield Peace Gardens' fountains be affected? Here's how the city summertime staple will operate during the Yorkshire Water ban.

Transcript

00:00Can I just go up here?

00:02Yeah. I mean, it's not on. No one's gonna stop me.

00:08Afternoon Sheffield. I hope you're right. It's Alistair from the Sheffield Star

00:11and I'm sat in the fountains at the Peace Gardens to talk to you about the fountains at the Peace Gardens.

00:16As you've probably heard by now, there is a hosepipe ban on its way for Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Sheffield in general.

00:22After the warmest, driest spring on record and after only 15 centimetres of rain in this summer so far,

00:28which is far, far below what it's meant to be, Yorkshire Water is imposing a temporary use ban,

00:32also known as a hosepipe ban, for the county.

00:35This means that residents aren't allowed to use hosepipes that are connected to a water main.

00:41That's the underlying rule. The idea is to stop wastage of water by asking residents to control how much water they use

00:47using watering cans, not to fill up their hot tubs or paddling pools or anything else with a hose

00:52that might just uncontrollably splay water and put it all to waste.

00:56I wanted to know how the hosepipe ban would interact with one of the staples of summertime in Sheffield,

01:03which is whether the fountains in the Peace Gardens will be running.

01:06This is a staple of summertime in Sheffield. This is the fountains in the Peace Gardens.

01:11They jet up from the floor. They make a great free family fun day out for families

01:15and it's just marked by lots of kids running around shrieking in the city centre,

01:19which is what we all want to see and it gets people out and about, you know.

01:22Yeah, but with a hosepipe ban on the way, I had the idea that they might be turning us off.

01:25So I went to the city council to ask them what their plans are for the Peace Garden fountains during the hosepipe ban.

01:31The council have the opportunity to do the funniest thing right now.

01:37Well, as you can see, I'm currently sat in the middle of the fountains here in city centre and they are dry as a bone.

01:43They've not been switched on and that's going to be the case most weekdays until the hosepipe ban ends.

01:49So the underlying thing to know is that the Sheffield City Council is exempt from the hosepipe ban.

01:53It only really applies to domestic and residential properties.

01:56The idea that the council would have to, say, water the winter gardens or the botanical gardens with only a watering can is just and reasonable.

02:03And all of those plants would die without sprinklers and hosepipes in play.

02:08They've got a lot of commercial duties they need to perform that involve hosepipes as well.

02:13So by and large, local authorities exempt from the hosepipe ban.

02:17However, the council have said they want to do everything they can to try and save water in the city during this time.

02:22And so they've given some guidance on what they're going to do with the Peace Garden fountains.

02:25So here's how they're going to run things.

02:27So the fountains are going to be switched off during the weekday in school terms.

02:32So until schools break up, the fountains that I'm sat in right now, and as you can see, are going to be dry as a bone

02:38because the use case for anyone wanting to be there is far, far less.

02:42However, I mean, until school break up, they will turn them on for the weekends, of course.

02:47They want to see people out in the city centre. They want to see children enjoying themselves.

02:50So the fountains will be switched on during the weekends until schools break up.

02:53And you can probably see where this is going.

02:55Schools break up on July 23rd, at which point they'll be switched on more or less permanently.

03:00During the school holidays and the weekends, for the enjoyment of all the children and all the families in the city centre,

03:05the fountains will be switched back on as normal.

03:07So hosepipe ban is on the way.

03:09However, how does this translate to people being able to cool off and enjoy themselves here in the city centre?

03:14Practically no effect, unless you want to come out during the weekday when schools are still in session.

03:18Their reasoning for this is that the fountains more or less use the same water over and over again.

03:24Of course, there's going to be some loss there, but they're not really directly connected to the mains as we would understand it.

03:29Same as the Barker's Pool fountain, it more or less recycles and pumps the same water over and over again.

03:34So the loss of water, the case for that, is far, far less.

03:38I mean, while we're on topic as well, the Barker's Pool fountains will be running as normal as well,

03:42because they completely recycle their water. There's barely any loss there.

03:45However, the fountains at the train station, which I've seen have been shut off for quite a few weeks,

03:49will remain shut off pretty much throughout the hosepipe ban because the loss of water they incur is far, far greater.

03:55So the council is going to just turn those off until further notice.

03:58Anyway, that was a frequently asked question I was receiving.

04:01The hosepipe ban is on the way, but the fountains in the city centre, as far as school holidays go,

04:06will be running as normal and won't really be affected by the hosepipe ban.

04:10Only when schools are in session will they be switched off, and that's only during the weekdays.

04:14There's no telling how long the hosepipe ban is going to last.

04:17The last one that we had in 2022 remained in place until December because it's only really turned off,

04:25if that's the right phrase.

04:27The hosepipe ban is only really lifted once there's been enough rain to sufficiently fill the reservoirs to lift the crisis, I guess.

04:34So we may be sat with this for a long time unless there's a great deal of rainfall this year to undo it,

04:39but that will be the case from here on out.

04:41I guess that's a great question.

04:46All right.

04:47I'll do it again.

04:49It's not a great question.

04:50That's my turn.

04:51It's a great question.

04:52That was a great question.

04:53It helped us treatilera.

04:54That's the viewfinder or how excited it did today.

04:55The only time we do the ground with lift item to lift the highway.

04:56We'll do it.

04:57We'll continue to leave the customer aid and fill it out.

04:58It's right.

04:59Thanks, everyone, from me.

05:00Hopefully, the engine thought the road was brought up and pull it out.

05:01I really don't get T!, but it will not be made for a long time now.

05:04And gets all because the lights running out.

05:05I really do.

05:06We'll have to go.

05:07Happy yesterday.

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