Water fascination

Daddygee

Registered User
Jan 12, 2015
20
0
West Sussex
Hi my wife has dementia with lewy bodies,recently she has taken to turning taps on and "playing"with the water then wandering off leaving taps on we have had to hide all the sink/bath plugs in the house.Has anybody had similar problems or some advice on a solution.
 

Katrine

Registered User
Jan 20, 2011
2,837
0
England
Hi Daddygee. There are 2 approaches: limit the amount of water delivered by the taps, and/or replace conventional plugs with anti-flooding ones. Replacing your taps with non-concussive ones (push down/self closing) could be expensive and won't prevent your wife from flooding the basin if she presses them repeatedly. Anti-flooding Magiplugs are available from Amazon and other retailers for about £10.99 each. This archive thread from 2004 may be of interest: http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?803-Taps
 
Last edited:

AlsoConfused

Registered User
Sep 17, 2010
1,952
0
I imagine there are several worries you've got over this problem:-

(1) water spilling onto the floor, being a trip / electrics safety risk and possibly damaging the house and furnishings; and
(2) if you're on a water meter, the high costs of wasting water

Re (1), is your wife at the stage where she can learn new things?
What would happen if you could buy taps your wife couldn't work? Would she give up and do something else less inconvenient ... or become frustrated, destructive and try different and more damaging ways of amusing herself?
Could she be distracted from using most of the household taps by a water toy (eg a mini fountain such as you get in a garden centre)?
Can you get advice from a professionally qualified Community Occupational Therapist on types of taps or other strategies which might help you solve the problem?

Re (2), I was able to get my parents' water bills reduced by switching them from water-metering to a standard charge based on the number of people living in the house. I was only able to do this with the sympathetic help from someone very senior in their water company. There are a range of other schemes to help people who can't afford high water bills because of low income.

Good luck. I hope you can find some way of sorting out this very difficult problem.
 

chick1962

Registered User
Apr 3, 2014
11,282
0
near Folkestone
Hi my wife has dementia with lewy bodies,recently she has taken to turning taps on and "playing"with the water then wandering off leaving taps on we have had to hide all the sink/bath plugs in the house.Has anybody had similar problems or some advice on a solution.

There are flood alarms which the OT should help with . You can also ring your water supplier and asked to be put on water sure which is a capped water bill for ppl with disabilities. You need to be on certain benefits to get it though .


Sent from my iPhone using Talking Point
 

Daddygee

Registered User
Jan 12, 2015
20
0
West Sussex
Hi Daddygee. There are 2 approaches: limit the amount of water delivered by the taps, and/or replace conventional plugs with anti-flooding ones. Replacing your taps with non-concussive ones (push down/self closing) could be expensive and won't prevent your wife from flooding the basin if she presses them repeatedly. Anti-flooding Magiplugs are available from Amazon and other retailers for about £10.99 each. This archive thread from 2004 may be of interest: http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?803-Taps

Thank Katrine
Yourvadvice is most welcome
 

Daddygee

Registered User
Jan 12, 2015
20
0
West Sussex
There are flood alarms which the OT should help with . You can also ring your water supplier and asked to be put on water sure which is a capped water bill for ppl with disabilities. You need to be on certain benefits to get it though .


Sent from my iPhone using Talking Point

Thanks chick 1962
I will certainly look into you suggestions
 

Daddygee

Registered User
Jan 12, 2015
20
0
West Sussex
I imagine there are several worries you've got over this problem:-

(1) water spilling onto the floor, being a trip / electrics safety risk and possibly damaging the house and furnishings; and
(2) if you're on a water meter, the high costs of wasting water

Re (1), is your wife at the stage where she can learn new things?
What would happen if you could buy taps your wife couldn't work? Would she give up and do something else less inconvenient ... or become frustrated, destructive and try different and more damaging ways of amusing herself?
Could she be distracted from using most of the household taps by a water toy (eg a mini fountain such as you get in a garden centre)?
Can you get advice from a professionally qualified Community Occupational Therapist on types of taps or other strategies which might help you solve the problem?

Re (2), I was able to get my parents' water bills reduced by switching them from water-metering to a standard charge based on the number of people living in the house. I was only able to do this with the sympathetic help from someone very senior in their water company. There are a range of other schemes to help people who can't afford high water bills because of low income.

Good luck. I hope you can find some way of sorting out this very difficult problem.

Thanks for your advice its most welcome