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A HERTFORDSHIRE business is exploiting the hosepipe ban by fitting systems to irrigate gardens with household waste water.

Jilly Blackshaw of Watermatic Ltd, which is based in Potters Bar, said: "We are selling loads of Ban Busters.

"Our client base is screaming for help to save their plants."

The Ban Buster, the company's invention which is pending a patent application, collects "grey water" from baths, showers and sinks in an external tank after filtering.

The simplest systems pump the water directly to the garden via a sprinkler, but larger tanks enable the householder to turn the supply on and off and direct it to different areas.

They can also be used with distribution systems such as the company's product Biodrip, which delivers a steady flow to flower beds through 12mm pipes.

Watermatic says the Ban Buster is a legal and eco-friendly way of keeping precious plants alive through the driest weather.

A family of four can use as much as 3,000 litres a day through routine washing-up, clothes washing, bathing and showering, which normally would go straight into the drains.

According to Watermatic, the filtered water is perfectly usable for gardens, although it warns against using strong chemicals such as bleach.

Modern houses which lack external outflow pipes are not suitable for the Ban Buster, but the systems can be installed in 85 per cent of homes.

They cost about £2,000, which Ms Blackshaw said was less than the cost of replacing three dead trees, adding there would be savings in water supply and sewage charges.

Predicting there would be hosepipe bans every summer, she said the Ban Buster would provide many years of guilt-free watering.

Watermatic has recently installed its products at the British Library and at Transport for London's offices in Park Lane.

For more about Watermatic's products, see www.greywaterirrigation.co.uk or call 01707 661188.

11:11am Thursday 3rd August 2006

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