Gardening: Tool Box: A hose to beat the meter

BECAUSE we live on an old farm our water supply is metered, and we had a nasty shock when a slight leak raised the bill by 400 per cent.

The new soaker hose from Hozelock should, however, help us to make efficient use of the stuff that, before privatisation, used to gush unstinted from our taps.

What appears to be a conventional pipe, 7.5 or 15 metres long, has hundreds of minute perforations that drip-feed water where it is needed, rather than spraying it over a much wider area. The kit includes plastic fittings to connect the soaker to the tap or to another hosepipe. I wonder whether their threads will last as long as the brass variety.

Getting the flow right required a little experimentation. Too much pressure can burst the hose, but the far end 'leaked' only when the tap was about three-quarters open.

This device may conserve a valuable commodity and save on the water rates, but the system does not come cheap: a 15-metre soaker costs pounds 23.99.

Percy Thrower's garden centre in Shrewsbury quoted from pounds 4.91 to pounds 7.34 for an identical length of conventional pipe.

Hozelock Ltd, Haddenham, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP17 8JD (0844 291881).