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For a number of years, the allotment holders at Peel Brow in the town have struggled with water supply issues from the local spring during the drier summer months.
The North West’s water company is working with 50 plot holders to install storage tanks and water butts to help the group better manage rainfall across the site and preserve the water supplies they take from the spring.
Two 3,000 litres tanks have been installed at the site alongside another 20,000l of storage through 36 water butts and IBC tanks. This should mean the allotment has a reliable supply of water all year-round.
Alice Denholm, Water Efficiency Manager at United Utilities, said: “We’re really pleased to be working with the allotment holders at Peel Brow. We looked at a number of solutions when they approached us but we feel using the storage tanks and water butts is a great solution for them. It will help manage the water they currently take from the spring and recycle the majority of the rainwater that currently falls on the allotment to provide them with reliable water sources.”
Gabrielle Marshall, Peel Brow Allotment Secretary, said: “We’re really grateful for the support from United Utilities. When we were going through the water shortages we were having at the allotment, we could see a lot surface water that we weren’t able to make use of.
“Now we’re able to harvest it from all the rooftops on the allotment and use of all these water butts to help us to water our plots and also hopefully retain some for those dry months during the summer.”
It comes as United Utilities is also about to begin work on a project to improve the water quality of the River Irwell in the town.
A new underground storage tank is due to be built on a parcel of land between the Irwell and Nuttall Road. The tank will hold three and a half million litres, more than an Olympic swimming pool, and will reduce the number of times the storm overflow operates during periods of heavy rainfall.
The initial works will include removing vegetation and reinforcing the access road to the site before the main construction begins in spring 2024.
