Embracing the concept of water harvesting

Austin Knowles Water Story

Austin Knowles from Hollings Hill Farm embracing the concept of water harvesting
 

Making better use of our water

At our sites

Water is used at our sites to generate steam for pasteurising milk and for cleaning all the processing equipment.

We have continued to work on reducing the quantity of water used to process milk following our decision in early 2008 to join the Federation House Commitment. This aims to reduce overall water usage across the Food and Drink Industry by 20% by the year 2020.

Through efficiencies and improvements to operational systems, we have achieved an overall 8% reduction in water used per tonne of milk processed during the last 12 months. Sites that performed particularly well were Hanworth and Davidstow, with year-on-year improvements of 16% and 15% respectively.

At Hanworth a study identified that the milk bottle washers were using a lot of water. A major service of the washers including replacing the nozzles led them to be returned to “show room” performance levels significantly reducing the water volume and energy required to operate the washers hygienically.

At Davidstow we reviewed the operation to ensure we were recovering as much water as possible from the evaporator process. The recovered water is then treated to ensure it meets the required standards and reused.

On our supplying dairy farms

Since dairy farms are high users of water, many suppliers are investigating ways of using water more efficiently. Initiatives include capturing and treating rainwater, and introducing systems to recycle water for appropriate tasks, such as washing the milking parlour.

Austin Knowles from Hollings Hill Farm, Cradley, Worcestershire, has actively embraced the concept of water harvesting, and has now reached a stage where the farm uses no mains water. Four years ago when Austin was looking to expand his dairy enterprise, he was faced with an unreliable water supply from a combination of mains and a small spring. Seeking alternatives, he found around 30,000 litres of water per day was available from a network of springs and gullies on the farmland—a highly cost-effective option that far exceeded the farm\'s daily requirement of 2,000 litres per day. The water the farm needs is diverted to a holding tank via a constant feed and pumped out as required. The remainder of the water available enters a pond on the farmland. For tasks that require clean water, such as cleaning the parlour, water passes through a treatment system that includes a particulate and UV filter. This has been very successful in terms of water quality and reliable supply. Now the farmhouse and small holiday enterprise also receive their water in this way.