Riverside Country Park visitor centre

Riverside Country Park get funding to help install a rainwater tank, saving water in their toilets.

The popular visitor centre at the Riverside Country Park in Gillingham, Kent, is used by lots of people walking, birding, cycling, jogging or walking their dogs, so the loos are flushed many times every day. To save water, Riverside applied to our Business Partnership Fund to be able to install a tank that collects rainwater from the roof’s gutters. The 2,350 litre tank is used for the toilets instead of tap water, giving the country park a sustainable way to save water.   

The tank and its installation were supported by our Business Partnership Fund, which helps businesses with water saving projects. It took two weeks to install the innovative system, which automatically pumps the rainwater through to fill the cisterns of both the ladies and men’s toilets, the disabled toilet and the staff toilet. When the water tank is empty, the system simply switches over to use water from the tap water supply. There’s even a way to use excess water run-off from the gutter system, to water the park’s bee garden during drier months of the year.

Danielle Bowen, Riverside’s Country Park Manager said: ‘Southern Water’s Business Partnership Fund sponsorship of a rainwater harvesting system for Riverside Country Park is providing the park with the chance to reduce water usage, teach the public about water saving strategies and overall enables us to have a greater impact in fighting climate change.’

With hotter summers and less rainfall, as well as a growing population in the South East, there’s increased pressure on our water supplies. Kimberley Turnbull, Water Efficiency Manager at Southern Water, said: “Water is one of our most precious resources. 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 Business Fund has already helped many businesses to save water, and the next round of funding will be open for applicants until 30 June 2024. Businesses supplied with water from Southern Water can apply with projects aiming to deliver water savings in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Sussex or Kent for a maximum of £40,000 of funding. Applications for the Business Partnership Fund can be made via our website, where full details of the criteria can be found.