Why Recycling Your Water can bring financial benefits
Water is a valuable resource and it is sensible for all growers to review their water supply, management and application on a regular basis. Many commercial horticultural businesses have the opportunity to capture or recycle their own water, even to the point of becoming self-sufficient. Run-off from overhead irrigation system can be captured, channelled to a holding area and cleaned prior to reuse. Nurseries with glasshouses and polytunnels have the opportunity to harvest water from roofs and drains — the amounts captured can turn out to be surprisingly generous.
Here at JFH Horticultural we supply corrugated steel water tanks supplied to you in kit form ready for installation on site.
The financial benefits of harvesting and recycling water with leached fertilisers can be doubly rewarding and the environmental benefits extend beyond the prevention of pollution. There is more and more evidence that some systems lead to reduced incidence of disease.
Ten tips to save water:
1. Pay attention to leaks — they are money down the drain
2. Consider using water of a lower but acceptable quality, using equipment for sanitising and cleaning the water of pathogens
3. Allocate bed space carefully and group plants together that have similar water demands
4. Check run-through rate of growing media, especially when there are changes in origin, supply or supplier
5. Monitor sprinkler uniformity — the paper cup test
6. Fast-moving technological changes mean it is important to check out the latest irrigation products and designs
7. Irrigate on demand, not by the clock — need not be complex or expensive
8. Link to weather stations to calculate irrigation requirements
9. Variable-speed pumps can reduce strain on system and save energy
10. Dual up by using drip irrigation for applying other products such as nematodes for vine weevil control or irrigation gantries that can double up as plant-movement systems
Call us today on 01270 212726 and ask for a FREE consultation with one of our Business Development Team to look at ways you can save costs in water management.
