Henfield Charity Set to Save More Than 700,000 Litres of Water Per Year

Henfield Leisure Centre is set to save more than 700,000 litres of water a year, thanks to the Southern Water Business Partnership Fund.

The Henfield Leisure Centre have put together a water efficiency programme, which will help reduce their water consumption and save money on their energy bills. The rainwater harvesting programme involves replacing toilets with dual flush loos and installing equipment that captures water to be used for internal toilet systems.

Gary Pettifer, a trustee at Henfield Leisure Centre said: “The results of a water neutrality survey confirmed that we were wasting too much water due to our old toilets. We are a charity and depend on grants and donations, so we are very grateful to the Southern Water Business Partnership Fund. We are now able to change our toilets and install a flushing water tank. We look forward to lower water bills and saving many thousands of litres of water, in the near future.”

Kimberley Turnbull, Water Efficiency Manager at Southern Water, said: “Water is one of our most precious resources. Every year the population of the Southeast grows but the amount of water available stays the same. Due to hotter summers and less rainfall, increased pressure Is put on our water supplies. If we keep consuming at our current rate, in time, demand will outstrip supply – as there’s only so much we can take from our environment. The Southern Water Business Partnership Fund is an innovative scheme aiming to promote water efficiency in our region and find new ways to save water.”

The winners of the Business Partnership Fund have been announced, they are Whitbread via Waterscan, Everflow, Asletts Ltd, Riverside Country Park and Longdown Activity Farm. The firms are based across our region from Brighton, Southampton, Sussex and Medway.

Pilot Scheme

As an example of what can be achieved, a pilot scheme at the Theatre Royal Winchester that has already benefitted from the Business Partnership Fund. It calculates that it is expected to save more than 3,000 thousand litres of water a year. The venue is replacing its washroom facilities with more water efficient installations. Water has been saved by adapting the basin taps and showers to have lower flow rates. New toilets are set to be installed with lower flush volumes, as well as waterless urinals.

Other winners include:

• Asletts Ltd – Implementing painting and decorating cleaning stations using recycled water to wash paintbrushes and equipment. Hastings, East Sussex.
• Riverside Country Park - Rainwater harvesting system using stored rainwater to water the gardens. Medway, Kent.
• Longdown Activity Farm – The project will install flow restrictors on taps to reduce water use during hand washing and will implement rainwater harvesting to offset of water used to refill the duck pond each week; the farms two largest uses of water. Ashurst, Southampton.
• Everflow - Pilot of Eco-MOT’s , a water and energy saving visit that will trial whether a business's ‘willingness to pay’ for water efficiency interventions is increased when incorporated into utilities as a whole.
• Whitbread via Waterscan – series of water audits focussed on the hospitality industry, specifically Premier Inn Hotels.

The Southern Water Business Partnership Fund invited businesses to submit innovative water saving ideas, across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Sussex and Kent.

Applications were taken from the following criteria:

• Businesses and water retailers located in, and operating out of, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Sussex, and Kent.
• Water conservation service providers supporting a business in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Sussex and Kent.
• Southern Water must supply the mains water to your business.
• It must deliver water savings in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Sussex or Kent. It must save mains tap water and demonstrate a tangible, sustainable reduction in water use (litres/day saved as a result of the project).
• Projects to be able to provide a monthly update once launched and a full case study at the end.

The second round of the Business Partnership Fund will start on 1 April 2024 and will invite businesses to submit new water saving initiatives and ideas, across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Sussex and Kent.