All farms and horticultural businesses use water, but do you know how much you use and how much it costs?
Saving water in agriculture and horticulture
Why save water?
Water is essential for a wide range of activities on the farm, from livestock drinking to crop irrigation and from milk cooling to machinery washing.
Being waterwise is good for your business. All farms and horticultural businesses use water, but do you know how much you use and how much it costs? Are you using the right amount of water for your needs and no more?
Being waterwise is also good for the environment. Farmers, as stewards of the countryside, are aware how vital water is to creating and maintaining a healthy environment.
Case Study: Rainwater as a resource - Cammas Hall Farm (shortlisted for Save Award, Water Efficiency Awards 2009)
J M Lukies grow fruit, vegetables, wheat and beans at Cammas Hall Farm near Bishop's Stortford. Due to planned expansion it became obvious that their existing licence and capacity would not be sufficient. Unable to increase their licence due to pressures on the River Roding catchment, they decided to harvest rainwater from farm building roofs by diverting the drain from gutter pipes into an existing reservoir.
Water abstracted to fill the reservoir over the winter of 2007/2008 fell by 636m3 compared to the previous year despite increasing the area of irrigated crop. They also harvested over 6500m3 of rainwater over the following 12 months. Without the additional water supplied from rainwater harvesting they would not have been able to grow the additional area of soft fruit to supply growing demand.
Our publication Rainwater Harvesting: an on-farm guide (PDF,1.36MB) contains more information on how you can use rainwater as a resource.
Case study: Natures Way Food Limited (Commended, Water Efficiency Awards 2007)
Natures Way Food Limited is a company who process and produce pre-packed salads and vegetables for major supermarkets and catering companies. As well as recycling 98% (5396m
3 a week) of waste water from the factory process to irrigate crops, they also monitor all water use and record meter readings weekly to compare against previous consumption. They have also installed other water savings devices such as waterless urinals.
The combination of these measures has reduced water consumption by 25 per cent, which is saving the company £37 000 a year.
Visit the pages in the menu on the left for useful examples and resources of how to save water and how you and your farm could benefit.
