I am stuck between to waterholic familes ........the other side empty the pool once a week a drown my patio the other side thinks unless his grass gets boggy every night it will die..............I say bring on water meters let them pay high bills i reckon they might think twice ...

We don't have that problem in Ireland! It falls out of the sky at regular intervals for about 10 months of the year Plus my water supply is free, pumped from a borehole which goes down 130 feet. The towns are on mains supply but it is free for private households and those on group schemes (private supply from lake water) get the first few thousand gallons a year free then pay after that.
However, things are changing and certainly in my County, you can't have a bore hole anymore if you apply for planning permission to build a new house, it has to be a group scheme which is a shame as borehole water is uncontaminated pure water which is more than can be said for what comes out of the lakes especially if a farmer has leaked slurry into it You have to pay a subscription to the group water scheme to pay for maintenance so I suppose it is similar to mains water in the UK, just on a fragmented basis as there may only be a handful of houses on a scheme in rural areas.
When I lived in Essex we were on water meters and had drought conditions most summers so I know the problem. I think water metres are a great idea and make you think twice about water useage although I did hear that power showers can actually use more water than a bath.
As far as gardens go, I never watered mine even in bone dry Essex. It is part of nature so I let nature get on with it - or maybe I am just lazy. My car doesn't get washed more than a coupleof times a year, either. My father, on the other hand, used to dedicate every summer evening to watering the lawns to keep them green and finally come back into the house as darkness fell. He wasn't on a meter!

Im used to water shortages living here in east anglia-its not known as the driest region for nothing!

My garden never really suffers during a dry summer cause i chose plants which dont need watering-sometimes its easier to work with the hand you've been dealt with rather than fighting it.My lawn will go brown,but hey-it'll grow back in autumn.I do have numerous ceramic pots,but with careful mulching-this saves on evaporation.

Another hosepipe ban wont be any different to me!

Well all you southern folk with hose pipe bans are welcome up here, we've got enough to share around

It was not really about the Garden it was more about the poor respone of the water board. if things are as bad as they say maybe they should repair the leaks/Damage quicker

Friend has a leak in her road that took weeks to be repaired.

If I remember rightly the last time there was a ban they flew over houses in helicopters and anyone whos garden was suspiciously green would be investigated and fined! Lets hope your neighbour gets his cumuppance! lol

I ams ure this question has been asked and answered before but cost aside, what is stopping this crazy country from draining water from the sea???!!! I am sure there are countries currently doing it. Yes it costs more but in the long run! We are surrounded by the stuff!! lol

I think the cost of cleaning sea water is huge ..the process normal drinking water goes through is amazing ......leaks and problems should be seen to faster thats true but my OH says when a water main bursts most is drawn back and reused its not like just fixing a pipe ...houses have to be evacuated and miles of searches needs to be done as the pipe thats leaking could be miles from where its surfacing

its not good though Bens mum that it took so long i think its like every job over stretched resourses !!

just to add a few years ago my OH was on call xmas eve when the south was batterd with storms ..he was out on the road for 22 hrs and only one of the 34 calls that they had was a real emergency ..but of course they have to attend all calls he arrived home too tired to eat his xmas dinner LOL