An Ideal Bottle Of Water
I like the standard British Rail bottle of Harrogate Spa water, as it fits my pocket and doesn’t have a silly cap.
An Ideal Bottle Of Water
But why is it, I find it difficult to buy something like this for use on my travels around London?
We’ve Now Got Some Information On The Sewer!
I went to the View Tube on Monday and saw this sign outside.
We’ve Now got Some Information On The Sewer!
It’s only one sign, but I suppose it’s a start.
But we need more boards like this on all big buildings, projects, stations and bridges to inspire the next generation.
Something New And Very Green In The Laundry
I’ve read about a company called Xeros in The Times today. Their washing machines use 80% less water, 50% less energy and 50% less detergent.
The technology has been spun (?) out of Leeds University and uses special beads to clean the washing. They’re also talking about a washing machine with no programmes ( i.e. a man button!)
They’re not available for domestic use! Yet!
But if all machines in the UK were this efficient, then the water saved would fill twenty million swimming pools!
A Strange Bottle Of Evian Water
I bought this bottle of Evian at Biarritz station.
Note that is says Live Young on one side and something in Dutch on the other.
Strange for a product made in France and sold on a French station.
No Small Waters In Italy
i drink a lot and usually carry a small bottle of water. In the UK, I often have one of the standard small 330 ml. bottles of Harrogate Spring Water, that seem to be ubiquitous on trains, in my pocket.
330 ml. bottle of Harrogate Spring Water
But in Italy finding small bottles of water was very difficult. Even half litres ones were difficult to find in some places.
Even those weight half a kilogram and unlike the small ones, they don’t fit in a pocket.
Liverpool’s Bucket Fountain
I mentioned this in the comments on an earlier post. So today, instead of going direct to my meeting at the Unversity, I took the Wirral line to James Street station to see the Bucket fountain.
It was actually working, although I have read that normally the water is turned off.
My Thames Water Bill
I had my Thames Water statement this morning. People complain about the cost of water and sewage, but I paid just £82.54 for 179 days.
That works out at 0.46 pence a day. And I thought the halfpenny wasn’t legal tender any more.
I actually used twenty one tonnes of water over that period or about 117 litres a day.
According to the Times today, the average Thames Water bill is £354 a year. I pay less than half that, which is to be expected, as my house is single occupied.
Anybody Fancy A Drink?
I saw this outside the National Theatre in Oslo.
Anybody Fancy A Drink?
You don’t see many these days. Especially, in such a prominent location.
They Must Have A Lot Of Burger And Kebab Joints In Kingston
According to lots of reports, like this one in the Metro, the sewers in Kingston have been blocked by a fatberg which is the size of a London bus.
The last report of this type of blockage was in Leicester Square, which I was told on good authority, when I visited the sewers was close to McDonalds.
So I can only conclude that they have a lot of fast food restaurants in Kingston.
Crossrail And The Super Sewer
The two large tunneling projects in London at the moment are Crossrail and the Thames Tideway Tunnel or Super Sewer.
They both require long tunnels and will cost billions of pounds each.
But the public seem to have different attitudes to the two projects.
Nearly everybody seems to support Crossrail, whereas there is substantial opposition to the sewer.
I did ask a friend, if there had been any opposition to Crossrail and he said, there was a bit in the early days from places like Mayfair. People seemed to have been worried about dust and noise during the construction phase. But now everybody just gets on with life and hopes that Crossrail will be finished and walking and driving will get back to normal.
To be fair to Crossrail, they seem to have gone out of their way with green walls to minimise noise, using the river to carry tunnel spoil and being a good neighbour as at Stepney City Farm. They have also launched a well-funded and publicised archaeology program.
On the other hand, the Super Sewer, doesn’t seem to have done the same to allay the fears of a public, who don’t want all the problems of construction and the increase in water bills.
I do wonder, whether the difference is down to the fact that a new railway is something people can use and feel gives them tangible benefits, but a sewer, is something that they only use a few times every day and don’t want to think about. And it looks to me, that Thames Water have not done a good enough job to sell the benefits of the new sewer to the general public.
The Anonymous Widower 