... and if all else fails, you could always resort to diviner intervention!
RAIN dancers were employed in the summer of 1976, but they failed to stop a drought that lasted from mid-June to the end of August.
The water supply in regions such as East Anglia and Yorkshire went so low that it was cut off in many homes. People queued up at street standpipes, with 20 homes sharing one water source.
Water divining is one way to find water – the ancient art of waving sticks or metal rods across the earth in search of an underground source. When they pass over water they move. Professional ‘dowser’ Vicky Sweetlove, from Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire, points out that if you find a natural spring within your boundary it can provide free water for animals and gardens.
She says: ‘A respect of water is essential and it is strange how we often take it for granted in our modern lives despite it being the source of life.
‘Dowsing is a gift people have without being aware of it – like the innate skill you may have of finding your way without a map.’
Sweetlove offers British Society of Dowsers Approved courses for £180 in London that reveal how to tap into such a skill.
It includes lessons on using a pendulum, dowsing rods, ‘bobbers’ and V-rods. But be aware that your local authority needs to be told of any private water source discovered.
Although the water might be perfectly safe it must still be analysed for contamination and any water containers also need to pass strict storage rules.
The council must hand over all the details of any wells, boreholes, springs or rivers being used to the Government’s Drinking Water Inspectorate.
Water firms give freebies to customers to save on water. Gadgets include eco-friendly shower-heads, taps that mix air with water, toilet cistern blocks and shower timers.
Website SaveWaterSaveMoney offers details of participating providers. They include Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, Affinity Water, Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, Scottish Water, Welsh Water and Severn Trent.