Crowdsourcing where to find water - Tap & Trough

[Bearlegged]

There's a Twitter feed and website that's trying to crowdsource points where you can access drinking water when cycling in the UK.

https://mobile.twitter.com/TapAndTrough
http://tapandtrough.blogspot.com/2016/1 ... t.html?m=1

Might be of use to folk on here?
Some of you may be able to contribute?

[jameso]

Could be useful, seems an archaic way to complie them though? Better with an app so you can upload waypoints to a central point? Fly tip reporting and similar needs use apps or a site for this kind of thing. I guess twitter's more widely used already so it could be a goer.

Churches and allotments are my standard points to try, got a load on that make long rides around here and across to the Cotswolds work well. I think there was a POI waypoint file around a while back, can't remember where it came from though.

[lune ranger]

I agree. I find it really annoying when events etc expect people to communicate via Twitter or FB.
The water idea is a great one, especially for road riding where streams are not so easily accessible.
I have an easily accessed tap in a relatively useful spot that won't make it onto the system because I don't Tweet. Shame because I don't imagine I'm the only one in my position.

[jameso]

Thing is, if this is something you value, grabbing a twitter log in purely to communicate water points is as easy as installing an app or anything else.

[Dave Barter]

I run a crowdsourcing platform that is free to use and could do exactly this https://geovey.org

[johnnystorm]

Saw a sticker for this on the Café opposite Melton Train station:

https://www.refill.org.uk/get-the-refill-app/

[jameso]

I run a crowdsourcing platform that is free to use and could do exactly this https://geovey.org

I did wonder if you had something like this in mind Dave. This looks potentially perfect for something I had in mind, will email.

[lune ranger]

Thing is, if this is something you value, grabbing a twitter log in purely to communicate water points is as easy as installing an app or anything else.

What about simply emailing the info? No need for an app, they've got a blog that hosts the info already.

[Bearlegged]

Thanks for the feedback so far. I've dropped the folk who run the site a line about non-Twitter ways to contribute.

It's still available for people to use without Twitter, and doesn't require an app (other than a web browser) to view it, which strikes me as a good thing.

[Bearlegged]

There's now an email address for contributions:
water@tapandtrough.co.uk

[lune ranger]

There's now an email address for contributions:
water@tapandtrough.co.uk

Nice.
My outdoor tap will find it's way there later

[Adventurer]

Doesn’t every establishment that has an alcohol licence have a legal obligation to provide free tap water to a person who asks. Or is this just to pubs.

Was there not a case where a pub refused to give a cyclist water and was in fact in breach of their licence?

[BigdummySteve]

Last time I was tramping around mid wales with pickers and reg we ended up on one of those ‘only on the map’ bridal ways. Pickers commented that he would add it to his map. Between all of us here we could map most of Britain’s byways and trails, both the mapped ones and the discovered ones, taps, bivvy spots etc etc. With the info WE find useful. Over many rides we accumulate a knowledge of the country which is just not available on any maps. If we had a reliable method of collating all this into a map layer or layers it would be an amazing resource.

[ScotRoutes]

Doesn’t every establishment that has an alcohol licence have a legal obligation to provide free tap water to a person who asks. Or is this just to pubs.

Was there not a case where a pub refused to give a cyclist water and was in fact in breach of their licence?

It's certainly a legal requirement for pubs in Scotland.

[jameso]

What about simply emailing the info?

Yeah, why not. App/twitter/email, all about the same faff factor anyway. More faff for them if it's coming from multiple sources but either way, being on twitter has got it talked about here and that's how it all works, all good.

My outdoor tap will find it's way there later

[Dave Barter]

Last time I was tramping around mid wales with pickers and reg we ended up on one of those ‘only on the map’ bridal ways. Pickers commented that he would add it to his map. Between all of us here we could map most of Britain’s byways and trails, both the mapped ones and the discovered ones, taps, bivvy spots etc etc. With the info WE find useful. Over many rides we accumulate a knowledge of the country which is just not available on any maps. If we had a reliable method of collating all this into a map layer or layers it would be an amazing resource.

I have thought of doing this very thing using Geovey (see above) but was worried it would only see action in certain areas. OpenStreetMap is another alternative but they are less focused on niche data needs like ours

[TapAndTrough]

Hi,
Thanks for the advert Chris, couple of points I wanted to clear up.

Some friends of mine were doing the coast to coast, ran out of water and took a 3 mile detour to a rural pub marked on the OS map to fill up but the pub was closed. Later that month on a very hot ride, I crashed my bike and didn't notice the loss of one water bottle meaning I needed to fill up more often but where could I do it?. When I got home i thought "hang on a minute, wouldn't it be a good idea if..." and the map was born.

I use twitter because I stole the mechanics of the idea off @kofthep and it works well there.

The map is just on google, you don't need twitter (or an email now I've added it) to use it, only to contribute / keep informed.

An app or Geovey might look nice but I can't see how they would improve or (more specifically) simplify the process, I'd also have concerns about their lifespan.

Refill.org is good but really only available in built up areas in normal working hours.

I've had a few people suggest I use OSM and other systems but I'm all about keeping it simple, no one yet has come up with a simpler system.

I'm more than happy to take on other suggestions or answer any questions if you have them.

Thanks

[jameso]

Fair points ^ and I'm all for supporting those who step up to make something like this happen. Following on twitter now and will post a few I know of when I pass. What's your take on local veg plot allotments and churchyards? Allotments may be private property so perhaps not. Churches are nice spots to fill up I think.

If you ever figure out how to transfer a few thousand spots that cover the UK well onto a GPS background then you'll have something very useful.

[TapAndTrough]

Loads of people say church yards but I'm yet to have any submitted so not really sure if its a thing or just everyone thinks it is.

As for allotments or anything else that you have to pass through a gate or obvious barrier to get there, I'll put in the notes that you should really ask, much like I've done for the campsite one just outside Calver.

[Chew]

These things sound great in theory, but someone needs to maintain the database and ensure its kept up to date.

If not, it soon creates the same situation where your friend took a 3 mile diversion to a pub marked on a map which is no longer open.

Fair play for taking it on, but dont underestimate the amount of work required to provide something useful, and then have the time to keep it updated when general life gets in the way.

[Dave Barter]

Have a massive rethink about using Google maps. If this gets slightly popular you will be getting a bill. It's how their business model works. You can argue with me all you want but I am in the industry and predicted this years ago. They are now charging for API use and other maps will be next. Everyone put their fingers in their ears when I and others said this would happen and now many sites are knackered as they cannot pay the API costs. By the way you also know that Google have IPR on your data don't you?

We love, use and curate Openstreetmap for a reason.

Map rant over ;-)

[Bearbonesnorm]

Churchyards do usually have a tap, although not always obvious. I've only ever had 3 or 4 where I couldn't find water and they were all pretty remote and close to natural sources anyway.

Very mild rant Dave, well done

[Mart]

Very mild rant Dave, well done

Not even a sweary word

[jameso]

Loads of people say church yards but I'm yet to have any submitted so not really sure if its a thing or just everyone thinks it is.

It is - ~50% of the time ime. If you see flowers there's probably a tap, I make a point of checking ones I pass these days and have a good mental map of water points that way. Plus, they're often interesting old buildings and worth a look anyway.

[whitestone]

I've been adding to a list of water sources, cafés, shops, etc that's available on GitHub for free.

At the moment it's mainly The Dales plus a few here and there elsewhere. You can convert it easy enough into a Garmin POI file

The advantage of GitHub is that anyone can add to it (and it's free). I can't remember the repo address at the moment. I was wanting to get more info on to it before letting folk know