 As
one of the members of the partnership, Bournemouth and West Hampshire
Water (BWHW) ran a project from July - December 2002 that they called "Use Water
Wisely". It involved those people living close to the Bourne
stream and its tributaries.
The
stream acts, in part, as a drainage channel; treated water used on
gardens in the catchment will ultimately find is way into the stream and
have an adverse effect on its quality.
Aims: to link
the use of water
within the home to its effect on the stream environment, and to raise householder’s awareness of where wastewater
and rainwater goes.
Funding:
Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water, The Bourne Stream Partnership, and
the Environment Agency
To
all those local residents interested, the project provided:
-
a water butt
supplied and installed free of charge; this would enable residents
to collect and use rainwater rather than treated tap water in caring
for their gardens, thus delaying and reducing water reaching the
stream;
-
a
free trigger hose, preventing wastage when using a hose for watering
the garden or washing the car;
-
the
offer of an assisted home survey, checking the operation of toilet
cisterns, adjusting ball valves and fitting a 'hog bag' (a special
water saving device for the cistern) where appropriate, and
re-washering taps if they were found to be leaking. A simple
'egg-timer' style shower timer was also offered;
-
an
audit of the property to determine whether a household's rainwater
runs to a soakaway or not;
-
a
calculation of the savings that can be made, if any, by water
metering (based on occupation numbers and national average water
use);
-
a
gift left to reinforce the 'use water wisely' message (a printed tea
towel was used)
Since
then:
-
A
final report was prepared by BWHW in March 2003.
-
During the summer of 2003, students from Bournemouth University carried
out a follow-up research project , interviewing 300 residents to ascertain why they
failed to the offer, and what might encourage them to take up future
offers.
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