Work Your 'Butt'

12 April 2011 12:36

Spring is in the air and it is the perfect time to get your water butt working to help you use water wisely in the garden.

NI Water is helping WWT (Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) promote their competition to find the hardest working water butts. The competition is calling on gardeners across Northern Ireland to let us know how well they work their water butt around the garden. Aspiring butt owners can explain how they would benefit if they had one.

NI Water’s Education Manager, Jane Jackson explains how we can all use water more wisely around the home and garden:

“NI Water takes pride in delivering one of Northern Ireland’s most essential services and last year delivered over 632 million litres of water each day to customers. At peak times this was as high as 860 million litres a day. The Work your Butt competition is a fun way of highlighting how important water conservation is and how small changes can make a real difference to water usage in the garden.

“NI Water continually monitors levels in reservoirs and tries to take steps to maximise water storage. However, we need our customers to be ‘water wise’ and realise the importance of saving water in the home and garden.”

The public can play an important part by following some of NI Water’s helpful tips:

· Install a water butt in your garden

· Use the water from the butt to water plants;

· Use watering cans (filled with water from your butt) around the garden instead of hosepipes and sprinklers;

· Use the water from the butt to wash the car instead of a hosepipe;

· Place a planter below a hanging basket to catch the drips

· Mend leaking taps - taps that drip once a second, result in the loss of 33 litres of water a day.

The competition is open for entries, including from those who would like to install a water butt, and winners will receive a £250 gardening voucher. Details can be found at www.wwt.org.uk/workyourbutt

Customers can also log onto NI Water’s Youtube channel – www.youtube.com/northernirelandwater to view NI Water’s video demonstrating ways to save water around the home and garden – there might even be a few hints for your entry!

Reports of any wastage of water or leaks should be referred to Leakline 0800 282011 or Waterline 08457 440088.