Let's ignore the 4.26 pints

We have a very sophisticated pool. Really it's an old irrigation tank painted white and blue. We fill it with water using a garden hose and hope that the water doesn't become too noxious with dead insects, rotting vegetation and the secretions from sweaty bodies over the summer.

Personally I'm not too keen on water: fine for car washing and making tea but every time I see people swigging the insipid stuff in the streets I'm reminded of my mother's admonitions about drinking from bottles. I even wonder about all those lorries full of all those plastic bottles travelling all that distance when the stuff comes gushing out of taps all over the place. The idea of immersing myself in it falls quite a long way behind plucking the small hairs from my ears and nostrils as a form of fun. Maggie though seems keen to be able to get cold and wet from head to foot every now and again.

We've poured 15.2m³ of water into the tank over the last couple of days or 3,343 gallons if you prefer. If we'd filled it with 15,200 litre bottles of Font Vella water bought from Corte Inglés that would have cost around 8,500€. Lucky then that we bought it from the local water supplier for 6.84€ - a substantial saving.