Ecstatic for tomorrow

I am seriously excited for the YW Adventure holiday coming up. My hair also agrees.....

Evie :-D

 

The old geezers views

A bit of reflection midweek on the surprisingly fascinating visits of last weekend to the water process areas have made us think a bit more about the way we use our water.  Of course the helicopter ride, fishing and cycling get the headlines, but actually the process of having nice clean water always on tap is pretty amazing.

Key areas that struck us included the amount of land owned and managed by Yorkshire Water, and some of processes of land management, such as redressing the drainage put into the moorland areas to try to (unsuccessfully) gain more farmland due to the postwar food shortages (and yes we do remember those!)

The breadth of areas that Yorkshire Water have to be involved with we found amazingly wide.  From pesticide choices and environmental care to education centres which enable school pupils understanding of the water cycle, and products to help reduce water use.  Just as we flick a switch and expect light, we turn a tap and expect clean fresh water, without realising its value or cost.

It's seems odd now, that we use drinking water to water our plants and clean cars and bikes with.  It's a bit like feeding pets with restaurant quality food, or using a taxi every day instead of getting the bus - it's very nice, but not really necessary.

So thinking about the upcoming weekend, what has it got in store.  We know about the water that reaches our taps; perhaps it's the not so nice (or smelly!) bit after we have used our water coming up next!

Sam, Lynn and Dan

The in between

All the excitement of last weekend is still very fresh in my mind and I can't wait for next weekend but whilst waiting I have been contemplating.....I didn't know what the weekends would entail but I didn't expect to learn so much whilst having so much fun.

I was surprised at how much land is owned by YW and hadn't considered at all their role in managing that land, together with tenants, and how much that can affect the quality of the water collected.  We are all aware of high profile incidents where things accidentally enter the water chain but I hadn't appreciated that these aren't really 'one off' events - that so much of routine use of land can have widespread repercussions. This can range from the large scale, well intentioned schemes of drying out the peat moors post war to try to increase food production, to the very small considerations of making sure animal feeding troughs (which obviously cause animals to congregate) are not positioned too close to water drainage channels.

I hadn't considered this to be part of the 'water treatment' as much as the impressive reservoirs and dams and the amazing actual water treatment works. Seeing for myself how much goes in to providing the clean water that flows straight to my house has made me determined to see how we, as a family, can use that water more responsibly. This means trying some water saving devices which should cut our useage but also means considering how we use what we do. We currently use perfectly clean drinkable water to flush our loo and wash our car. We are trying this new energy/water efficient kettle

And we are anticipating the heat wave that is about to hit and are trying storing water in bottles in the fridge so that we don't waste water running the taps for ages waiting for it to run cold.

 

We also have a new hose connection and a power washer to try.

I have thought about using 'dirty' water in my garden but I'm not convinced that the cleaning chemicals and waste wouldn't be harmful to my plants so I'm going to look at butts ( always a pleasant  occupation whichever way you spell it).

julie

Sunday was splendid

We woke with an early start to a massive breakfast, then left on the coach for a great day ahead...

First we went fishing and they told us all about the reservoirs . Then we all got geared up with fishing rods and clothes. We then learnt how to actually get the rod in the water. After this it was time to start fishing! Then after failing to catch any fish we went to feed the ducks. Watching the ducks eat made us all hungry so we went for lunch in a church (that had cake!). After lunch we went cycling which was amazing. We tried out all the different courses (and I actually managed to stay on the bike!!).

And then after hours of fun it was time to come home :-(

But at least there's next week still to come!! Can't wait!!!! :-D 

Day 2

Today we had a really good day .because I caught burt the fish and then dropped him I spent the hole of the day looking for him.i also looked for Sally the strawberry and Martha tried her hardest to take pictures of the film crew.

From Hannah  

What fun we had

What fun we had with Yorkshire water all the activities were amazing and I can't wait till next weekend but what I still can't get over I have been in a helicopter!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The fishing was also great <))))((((:

Martha:-D

Day after the weekend

Hiya,

I am soooooo excited for next weekend. It is only four days away and already I cannot wait. Yesterday I had an amazing amount if fun fishing and cycling. I even managed a grade red (difficult) trail on my bike with lots of bumps and rocks. The fishing was interesting and fun as well. I have to admit I didn't think it would be that fun but it was the highlight of the day. I didn't catch any fish and it was difficult at first to get the technique but once you get the hang of it it's very relaxing and I have a really short attention span so with that in mind I would recommend it too anyone!
The outfits we had too wear were well cool as well.

I hope we will have as much fun as we did last weekend and I want to thank Yorkshire Water and all the other people who helped make this possible because without you I wouldn't of had the fantastic adventure!!!!

Evie :-D