Smarter water use is on new champion's agenda

With water availability a major concern, the South East of England's new Water Champion is seeking better ways for horticultural growers of capturing, storing and using the precious resource.

Charles Carr is the production director at Lowaters Nursery near Fareham, Hampshire and has been awarded funding by the Environment Agency to investigate more effective water use.

"I intend learning lessons from across the world and then bringing them together as guidance for other growers, particularly those growing under glass," says Charles.

Lowaters Nursery grows ornamental plants in its eight acres of glasshouses for independent garden centres across the country under the Garden Beauty brand.

"We are situated in a very densely populated part of the country between Southampton and Portsmouth where there are huge demands for water. This is coupled with lower levels of rainfall than many other parts of the UK," says Charles.

Charles and the nursery have always taken a very active approach in minimising the environmental impact of its production. It is just one of two ornamental nurseries in the country to be ISO14001 accredited – the gold standard for environmental management. Investment in new heating technology has also reduced oil usage as the heating system now only operates when and where heat is needed.

Attention is now turning to water conservation with systems in place to capture, filter, store and use rainwater. Given that the average annual rainfall in the South East of England is 750mm and the nursery's glasshouses cover 30,000 square metres that is 22,500 cubic metres of potential water to be captured at the nursery every year. The aim is to be more than self-sufficient in water. The installation of evaporation sensors in propagation  means are only irrigated when they need it, later it is hoped that this system can be used to irrigate finished plants . The conservation of water is also central to a project that will see the eventual building of another two glasshouses with a combined area of two acres on the nursery site.

As Water Champion, Charles will be using his industry contacts to help in his project. He is a member of the Horticultural Trades Association's technical committee and Chairman of ProVar, the organisation that promotes the development of ornamental plant breeding. Meanwhile, Ian Ashton, the managing director at Lowaters is a member of the HTA's ornamentals committee and a board member of the Horticultural Development Company.

Despite these excellent contacts, Charles is seeking the views and experiences of growers to help develop his best water practice guidelines.

"Charles has a longstanding interest in best practise for water management in the glasshouse sector so is ideally suited for this role," says Shaun Leavey, the chairman of the South East's Sustainable Food and Farming Strategy Board which is administering Charles's project.

To contact Charles Carr call 01489 582584, email charlesc@gardenbeauty.co.uk or see www.gardenbeauty.co.uk