Congratulation to Howard Nurseries – one of the UK’s largest wholesale perennial specialists − on winning the top accolade at the 2016 UK Waterwise Awards for their 100% self-sufficient reservoir and water management system.
Having won the UK Water Efficiency Award for the Farming and Horticulture category, Howards went on to scoop the overall Environment Agency Chairman’s Award for Water Efficiency announced at a ceremony held at the House of Lords.
Based at Wortham, straddling the Norfolk / Suffolk border, Howard’s naturally clay lined reservoir contains over five thousand Norfolk reeds, ten thousand fish, twenty-four different recorded species of wildlife, various varieties of plant life and holds over 27 million litres of water. The water management workings are fully powered by forty solar panels that run alongside a fully automated irrigation system.
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Responding to growing environmental awareness, Christine Howard and her team has made the business more sustainable through recycling initiatives, solar electricity generation to power production, water conservation with the award winning reservoir and the use of green growing methods - such as a near peat free production cycle for their bare root plants.
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The biannual Waterwise UK Water Efficiency Awards are the most high profile awards in the UK to recognise the water efficiency achievements of the public, private and third sector organisations who promote water efficiency.