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Find Out Project Details & How Lowaters Nursery Won UK Water Efficiency Award
- 03 October 2012
The HTA are delighted that Lowaters Nursery have won the farming and horticulture category at this year’s UK Water Efficiency Awards for their new rainwater harvesting system. The installation of the rainwater system has enabled the Hampshire-based nursery to become self-sufficient in water. The project involved building a rainwater capture system, storage reservoir and biological cleaning system. Since its installation in 2010, the nursery has not had to call on mains water to irrigate their crops. Despite one of the driest periods on record, the collection system has been sufficient for their requirements.
The rainwater harvesting system forms a part of Lowaters’ Environmental Management System. They have been certified to ISO 14001 since 2008 and other achievements have included:
- 82% reduction in waste going to landfill over 4 years
- Reduction in the reliance on pesticides
- Installation of photovolteic cells to provide over 30% of electricity requirements
- Significant reduction in the use of peat in growing media
Charles Carr, Lowaters Nursery Director comments, "It is fantastic to achieve this recognition for the hard work that all the team on the nursery have put into sustainability with a key focus on water with all staff involved in the project seeking to use water more wisely. The investment in water saving has proven to be a good one and we would encourage other businesses to look at this as an excellent development!”
HTA Policy Manager Gary Scroby comments, “Lowaters’ investment sets a great example to the industry. They have become self-sufficient in the ever more precious resource of water, whilst eliminating significant running costs. They fully deserve this national award for water-efficiency, and we encourage other businesses to follow their lead.”
Source: HTA - Find Out Project Details & How Lowaters Nursery Won UK Water Efficiency Award
