Longdown Activity Farm in Hampshire saves water with tanks

Longdown Activity Farm near Ashurst has installed two new 'Elephant Tanks' to catch raindrops from roofs.

The tanks could save the family attraction around 310,000 litres of water per year.

The project was supported by a Business Partnership Fund grant of £8,400.

Farm Ducks Feeding (Image: Southern Water) Each tank, when full, will weigh as much as an adult male African Savana Bush Elephant.

The farm is also installing low flow tap sensors in the bathrooms, with the potential to save around 470,000 litres more water per year.

Bryan Pass, co-founder and operator of Longdown Activity Farm, said: "We strongly believe that educating our visitors will benefit us all in conserving water, which is why we are excited to share our five-year plan to reduce our current water usage by 50 per cent.

"It is our intention to harvest water from the large roof space that we have at our disposal, which will then supply all animal drinking areas, and the flushing of the on-site toilet blocks. Watch this space."

The annual water saving is estimated at 780,000 litres of water per year, from the rainwater harvesting and the installation of low flow tap sensors.

The 'Elephant tanks' were installed by Ecoprod Technique Ltd.

Marcus Rose, director and general manager, added: "It was a great opportunity to work with a community events space like Longdown Activity Farm and see their passion for water-saving solutions.

"They plan to implement more going forwards, but this initial contribution from Southern Water helped kickstart the process.

"We look forward to working with Bryan and his team in the future."

Southern Water provides essential water services to 2.7 million customers and wastewater services to 4.7 million customers across Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

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