How a livestock farm saved money with rainwater harvesting - Cotterills

How a livestock farm saved money with rainwater harvesting

It’s a common myth that you can’t use water harvested from the rain for livestock drinking. With the right filters in place you can make this water safe to drink. Here’s how we helped a livestock farm save money and meet environmental initiatives with our Gravistore system.

Name: Birch Hall Farm, Shropshire

Type: Dairy Farm

Size: 350 acres

Challenge

The owner of Birch Hall Farm, Andrew Gilman, needed a rainwater harvesting solution to help him:

• Meet environmental initiatives

• Reduce the farm’s water bill

Andrew was unsure which rainwater harvesting system would be suitable for his needs, especially because he wanted to use the water collected as a drinking source for his livestock.

Solution

We were able to advise Andrew on a wide range of rainwater harvesting solutions. After visiting his farm to understand his requirements in more detail, we devised a solution that consisted of six above ground horizontal tanks made of Medium Density Polyethlene (MDPE) that were backed by a 10 year guarantee.

Andrew Gilman commented: “It’s not an easy decision choosing a rainwater harvesting system so it was great to be able to speak to Cotterills. The fact that they also come from a farming background meant they understood how we work and what we’re trying to achieve. They are extremely knowledgeable and had lots of ideas on what we could do.”

To ensure the rainwater was safe for his livestock to drink, we added a UV filtration kiosk that filtered to 10 micron.

Results

With a water consumption of 12-15m³ per day, the new system will now save the farm around 2m³ per day. The collected water is being used to feed his livestock.

Andrew added: “We expect this rainwater harvesting system to pay for itself within the next 5-8 years. I would happily recommend Cotterills to other farmers. Nothing was ever too much trouble and their down to earth approach meant they were a pleasure to deal with.”

Contact us for expert advice on Rainwater Harvesting today – 0121 351 3230

 

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