# Banter 75: 24Jun25 Water Harvesting for Allotments, with Henry Clark {% embed url="" %} Henry's video of the session {% endembed %} ### Video Timeline (min:sec) \ 00:00 - 08:50 Presentation\ 08:50 - 24:30 (end) Q & A *** ### Presentation: {% file src="" %} Henry's Water Harvester presentation {% endfile %} *** ### Meeting Summary: ### Quick recap The meeting covered various topics, including a discussion on allotments and water harvesting systems for community gardens. Participants shared experiences and challenges related to local government reorganization, remote meetings, and increasing workloads. The session concluded with plans for a future demonstration of a collaboration knowledge base and a discussion on water usage at a community allotment site. ### Next steps * [Henry to ask allotment holders at the upcoming meeting if they are producing more due to better water availability from the harvester.](https://us02tasks.zoom.us/?meetingId=vwz7f0CqQ6Kg1lhR7FcgAw%3D%3D\&stepId=adabfb5e-51b8-11f0-b7a5-8ab8142568b5) * [Henry to consider adding more tanks to increase water storage capacity for the allotments.](https://us02tasks.zoom.us/?meetingId=vwz7f0CqQ6Kg1lhR7FcgAw%3D%3D\&stepId=adabffdc-51b8-11f0-b7a5-8ab8142568b5) * [Henry to explore implementing high-level balance pipes between tanks to prevent complete drainage in case of a leak.](https://us02tasks.zoom.us/?meetingId=vwz7f0CqQ6Kg1lhR7FcgAw%3D%3D\&stepId=adac0284-51b8-11f0-b7a5-8ab8142568b5) * [Graham to prepare for next week's presentation on how the great collaboration knowledge base works.](https://us02tasks.zoom.us/?meetingId=vwz7f0CqQ6Kg1lhR7FcgAw%3D%3D\&stepId=adac04b4-51b8-11f0-b7a5-8ab8142568b5) * [All attendees to attend next week's meeting for a demonstration of the knowledge base and how to input data.](https://us02tasks.zoom.us/?meetingId=vwz7f0CqQ6Kg1lhR7FcgAw%3D%3D\&stepId=adac06da-51b8-11f0-b7a5-8ab8142568b5) ### Summary #### Parish Council Allotment Discussion Chris, the clerk to the Parish Council in Water Houses, Staffordshire, joins the meeting to gather information about allotments for their local Allotments Association. Graham explains that the session is recorded and notes are published on a wiki for participants to access later. Henry joins the call and mentions he spent the morning discussing local government reorganization, which he describes as a contentious topic. #### Remote Meeting Challenges and Updates The meeting began with a discussion about the regular Wednesday noon banter sessions, which Graham confirmed are always held at that time. The group discussed the challenges of remote meetings compared to in-person ones, with Henry noting the lack of break time between calls. Graham acknowledged his tendency to start meetings late, which Tristram humorously attributed to Pavlovian conditioning. The conversation concluded with a brief check-in with Sally, who reported being fine and mentioned being on mute earlier. #### AI and Workload Management Challenges Sally discussed the challenges of managing increasing workloads and the potential of AI, mentioning a new CRM system and ongoing research into chat functions. Graham introduced the meeting and mentioned plans to record and share the session. Henry was invited to present on a water harvester project in Peakirk, and he prepared a presentation to guide his discussion. #### Water Harvester Installation in Village Henry described the situation of a small village with 28 allotment plots, located 7 miles north of Peterborough, which lacks a water supply. After considering options like installing a new mains water supply or using a water harvester, the village decided to implement a water harvester system, which was funded by a grant from the Peterborough Environment City Trust (PECT). A working party involving parish councillors, representatives from the local council, and volunteers from BGL Insurance, the village's insurance provider, helped with the installation of the water harvester system. #### Rainwater Harvesting System Construction Henry described the construction of a rainwater harvesting system, explaining that he based the design on a magazine example and built it in July 2020 using prefabricated components. The system consists of four 4,000 litre bulk containers supported on plastic pallets, with a galvanized steel roof, and cost approximately £1,200 in materials, covered by a grant from PECT. While the system has worked well, Henry noted some improvements could be made, including better tank foundations, more precise post placement, and a better connection system for the tanks. #### Rainwater Harvesting for Allotments Henry presents a rainwater harvesting system for allotments in Peterborough, which currently holds 7,200 liters but is empty due to insufficient rainfall. He mentions that two other parishes have built similar systems with protective walls. Tristram estimates this amount might be needed weekly for the 3/4 acre allotment area. The group discusses potential improvements, such as expanding the roof area or finding ways to collect water from a wider area, but notes the challenges of flat terrain and infrequent rainfall. Chris shares a similar project in Staffordshire that faces both water scarcity and flooding issues, suggesting the potential for a larger water management solution. #### Rainwater Harvesting System Discussion Henry described his rainwater harvesting system, which consists of four tanks connected to a single pipe leading to a discharge tap. He explained the advantages and disadvantages of this setup, including the potential for all tanks to drain if a leak occurs. Henry also mentioned that he considered adding balance pipes to improve the system's efficiency but decided against it due to the simplicity of the current design. The conversation touched on the durability of the system, with Henry noting that it has withstood winds and rattling issues by adding more screws. Graham inquired about the possibility of expanding the system's volume, to which Henry replied that while more tanks could capture more rain, the current setup has been successful. The discussion concluded with Henry mentioning an upcoming meeting with allotment holders to gauge the impact of the water system on their gardening efforts. #### Community Water Access Demonstration The meeting focused on water access and usage at a community allotment site, where Henry confirmed there were no complaints or regulations about water usage, and the system operated based on common sense. *** ### Chat: no entries in the Chat this week *** ### Speech-to-text (for AI Search engine) 139\ 00:12:49.250 --> 00:13:01.229\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: I think we've given them long enough, Henry, but don't be surprised if a few more jump in halfway through, so would you like me? I'll pass the chair over to you, and you can let us know what you're going to talk about. 140\ 00:13:01.730 --> 00:13:02.810\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: It's all yours. 141\ 00:13:03.250 --> 00:13:05.074\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Okay, thank you, Graham. 142\ 00:13:06.290 --> 00:13:08.430\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: If some reason I got invited 143\ 00:13:08.610 --> 00:13:13.159\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: to give a talk about a water harvester today that we built here in peacock 144\ 00:13:14.180 --> 00:13:18.689\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: so I've put together a little presentation just to help me remember what to say. 145\ 00:13:18.930 --> 00:13:23.589\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: But if anybody's got any questions during it, please ask, don't save until the end. 146\ 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:29.769\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: I'm I'm happy to discuss stuff that isn't on here, but I've just done this as kind of a 147\ 00:13:30.860 --> 00:13:34.490\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: guidelines, so I'll share my screen, and we'll see how we get on 148\ 00:13:41.970 --> 00:13:43.040\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: right. 149\ 00:13:43.350 --> 00:13:44.000\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So. 150\ 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:44.750\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: My. 151\ 00:13:45.190 --> 00:13:48.670\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Can we see it? So that is 152\ 00:13:49.060 --> 00:13:53.569\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: a 3D. Model I did to just explain to people what I was trying to achieve. 153\ 00:13:54.640 --> 00:13:55.240\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: And 154\ 00:13:56.230 --> 00:13:59.119\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Now, I'll talk about the reality of what we actually did. 155\ 00:14:01.050 --> 00:14:04.500\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So I can get Powerpoint working. 156\ 00:14:09.375 --> 00:14:11.439\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Right? Okay. So a bit of background 157\ 00:14:12.410 --> 00:14:17.640\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: this is in Peacock, which is Cambridgeshire, almost on the Lincolnshire border. 158\ 00:14:17.900 --> 00:14:20.340\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: We're a small village, about 500 people. 159\ 00:14:20.870 --> 00:14:22.960\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: and we're 7 miles north of Peterborough. 160\ 00:14:23.560 --> 00:14:25.690\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: so we have some allotments on the village. 161\ 00:14:25.910 --> 00:14:32.160\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: They're managed by the Parish Council, but they're owned by former resident who now lives in Florida. 162\ 00:14:33.050 --> 00:14:42.150\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: got 28 plots of various sizes so roughly, 28 lot holders, and there's no water supply. 163\ 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:51.559\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So the allotment is on the edge of the village. Some of the allotment hogs don't live in the village so that there's a long way to bring your own water. 164\ 00:14:52.730 --> 00:14:58.510\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So once we took it off, we thought, well, let's let's provide a water supply. So we thought about what are the options? 165\ 00:15:02.620 --> 00:15:06.819\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Provide a new main water supply, you know. Get somebody to 166\ 00:15:06.940 --> 00:15:13.410\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: dig the track up, lay a pipe bit, perhaps, or whatever. 167\ 00:15:14.670 --> 00:15:19.450\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Well, we were about 100 meters from the nearest pipe. So that's quite a big job. 168\ 00:15:19.670 --> 00:15:25.349\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: It it just sounded really expensive thousands of pounds. 169\ 00:15:26.370 --> 00:15:32.650\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: And then how are we gonna manage it? How are we going to charge the allotment holders for the water? Because it's obviously we're gonna have to pay for it. 170\ 00:15:33.220 --> 00:15:38.530\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: How do we stop abuse? How do we stop people stealing water, or just mischievously leaving the taps running? 171\ 00:15:40.020 --> 00:15:43.099\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So we didn't like that one. What about a water, Harvester? 172\ 00:15:43.450 --> 00:15:47.520\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Well, that sounded good, you know the water's free when it rains. 173\ 00:15:48.740 --> 00:15:51.340\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: But so that was that was good 174\ 00:15:51.950 --> 00:15:55.260\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: or do nothing. We'll just say terribly sorry we can't do it. 175\ 00:15:56.030 --> 00:15:59.130\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So we decided to do a water harvester. 176\ 00:15:59.940 --> 00:16:06.760\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So I designed one estimated costs. 177\ 00:16:07.010 --> 00:16:12.910\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: We're we're very lucky we got a grant from the Peterborough Environment City Trust, which is a 178\ 00:16:13.450 --> 00:16:24.780\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: charity that does quite a lot of good environmental stuff on biodiversity mainly, but also moving into carbon reduction. 179\ 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:31.850\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: We had a working party with some parish councillors, somebody from Pect. 180\ 00:16:32.290 --> 00:16:37.220\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: and volunteers from Bgl. Insurance. So the Bgl. 181\ 00:16:37.590 --> 00:16:43.319\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Our insurance company. They have offices in Peterborough, and they give their staff. 182\ 00:16:43.510 --> 00:16:47.900\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Think it's 2 days a year to go and do work in the community. 183\ 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:56.550\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So it's a motley crew. These volunteers were all office based. They were mainly young. 184\ 00:16:56.930 --> 00:17:01.259\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: strong, and willing, but not particularly skilled at building or 185\ 00:17:01.450 --> 00:17:06.330\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: bearing brambles or anything like that, but we had a nice day, and we actually did it 186\ 00:17:07.500 --> 00:17:10.180\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: in what? Oh, sorry! I couldn't see that right. 187\ 00:17:10.810 --> 00:17:13.420\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Some some reasons. 188\ 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:27.220\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: That's right. I just had a question which was, when you designed the Harvester. Did you have something to go on, or was it completely from scratch? Or did you find someone else who'd got one and just borrowed theirs. 189\ 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:31.800\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: I saw one in a in a magazine somewhere that looked 190\ 00:17:31.940 --> 00:17:39.835\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: very much like what we ended up with. Actually so it wasn't designed from scratch, but 191\ 00:17:40.220 --> 00:17:42.450\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Good. No point in reinventing the wheel. 192\ 00:17:42.450 --> 00:17:48.449\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Alright, no. And and I think it. It's quite a sound design, actually, anyway. So 193\ 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:56.270\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: one very hot day in July 2020, we actually erected it. I had prefabricated all the components. 194\ 00:17:56.750 --> 00:17:59.650\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So it's just a matter of clearing the site 195\ 00:18:00.930 --> 00:18:06.230\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: marking out the holes for the posts and storing it. 196\ 00:18:06.710 --> 00:18:08.460\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: which was, which was good fun. 197\ 00:18:10.040 --> 00:18:11.719\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: and so that was the result. 198\ 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:16.319\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Looks a bit like the 3D. Render I showed at the beginning. 199\ 00:18:16.630 --> 00:18:19.359\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So we have 4,000 litre 200\ 00:18:20.140 --> 00:18:23.619\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: bulk containers obtained from a local farmer. 201\ 00:18:24.060 --> 00:18:26.990\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: We've got them from a food company, so they were. 202\ 00:18:28.010 --> 00:18:32.690\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: They've been filled with vinegar. So they were. They were clean, they weren't. They didn't contain. 203\ 00:18:33.090 --> 00:18:35.060\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: you know, any nasty chemicals. 204\ 00:18:36.070 --> 00:18:38.980\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: We supported them on 8 plastic pallets. 205\ 00:18:39.150 --> 00:18:45.619\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: That was an experience I've heard from elsewhere. That wooden pallets rot away, and so they're not a good idea 206\ 00:18:47.010 --> 00:18:53.460\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: we use treated timber and we had a galvanized corrugated steel roof. 207\ 00:18:57.890 --> 00:19:07.299\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So we built it, and it didn't rain for weeks afterwards. So the 1st time it rained I rushed out to actually take pictures to make sure the rain fell into the gutter. 208\ 00:19:08.760 --> 00:19:11.790\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So it's got a 12 m² roof. 209\ 00:19:12.490 --> 00:19:17.909\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: And then East Anglia, we get typically 600 a year of rain, which is a lot 210\ 00:19:18.080 --> 00:19:24.660\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: which would have given us 7,200 a year, and the latest 211\ 00:19:25.120 --> 00:19:30.640\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: climate estimates are that you get pretty much equal rainfall each month, although that's not the case this year. 212\ 00:19:35.310 --> 00:19:37.443\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So what did we learn from doing it? 213\ 00:19:38.510 --> 00:19:44.850\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: We should. But we should have had better foundations for the tanks. They have sunk a little bit and become slightly 214\ 00:19:45.400 --> 00:19:49.790\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: skew with, but they haven't fallen over, and they haven't sent to Instagram 215\ 00:19:51.630 --> 00:19:58.895\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: needed to mark out the locations to the post better, because when we actually came to put it up, they weren't quite in line, and they look a bit sort of 216\ 00:20:00.310 --> 00:20:07.200\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: leaning tariff pisa in places some of the timbers I'd put outside the 217\ 00:20:07.360 --> 00:20:11.570\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: structure in hindsight. I've put them inside so they're sheltered from the brain. 218\ 00:20:13.630 --> 00:20:17.459\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: and we needed a better means of connecting the 4 tanks 219\ 00:20:18.250 --> 00:20:21.300\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: so that they would fill up equally from the one 220\ 00:20:21.470 --> 00:20:24.380\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: pipe going into one of the tanks, and that 221\ 00:20:24.770 --> 00:20:28.270\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: you could connect them up, so they only had. They only feeded one tap 222\ 00:20:28.650 --> 00:20:31.060\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: for people to fill their watering cans or whatever. 223\ 00:20:32.860 --> 00:20:39.339\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So I just had one pipe running along the 4 taps, and that works. But it's a bit 224\ 00:20:40.450 --> 00:20:44.329\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: the last one is you've got to pray for rain because it doesn't come when you want it. 225\ 00:20:47.950 --> 00:20:53.120\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So, in conclusion, it costs about 1,200 pounds for the materials. 226\ 00:20:54.010 --> 00:20:56.580\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Now, as I say, we were lucky enough to get a grant for that. 227\ 00:20:58.010 --> 00:21:00.400\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: The alarm holders have really appreciated it. 228\ 00:21:02.520 --> 00:21:10.370\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: They make they make use of it. But unfortunately it's completely empty today, because there's there's nowhere near enough rain in East anchor to keep it full. 229\ 00:21:12.340 --> 00:21:16.320\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: The good news is that 2 other parishes in Peterborough have built copies. 230\ 00:21:18.440 --> 00:21:21.720\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: The the difference there is. They have put 231\ 00:21:22.610 --> 00:21:26.080\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: a wall around it to stop people vandalizing it. 232\ 00:21:26.780 --> 00:21:28.870\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: That hasn't been an issue for us. But 233\ 00:21:29.300 --> 00:21:34.199\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: I can understand, maybe, that it's an issue in the could be an issue in a bigger village. 234\ 00:21:35.870 --> 00:21:40.029\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So thanks for listening. And has anybody got any questions. 235\ 00:21:40.540 --> 00:21:48.820\ tristram cary Winchfield Hants: Henry, what do you estimate? The requirement is per for the allotments. You've got 7,200 litres. How much do you need. 236\ 00:21:49.750 --> 00:21:53.590\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: I don't know, actually, but I I could imagine 237\ 00:21:54.080 --> 00:21:59.760\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: this time of year when a lot of water is needed. You might easily need that per week. 238\ 00:22:00.360 --> 00:22:01.230\ tristram cary Winchfield Hants: Per week. 239\ 00:22:01.570 --> 00:22:02.599\ tristram cary Winchfield Hants: Are they wrong. 240\ 00:22:02.600 --> 00:22:03.650\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Possibly. Yeah, I mean. 241\ 00:22:03.650 --> 00:22:04.380\ tristram cary Winchfield Hants: Okay. 242\ 00:22:06.100 --> 00:22:25.645\ tristram cary Winchfield Hants: yeah, you're collecting water just from your 12 m² roof, is there? Is there any way you could find a hill and and collect water across a wider area. And so you said you get much more without having to put up a structure. 243\ 00:22:27.010 --> 00:22:28.569\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: If if you had 244\ 00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:34.820\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: something like that, it would be something you could do. But we we're on flat land here. We're in the fair. 245\ 00:22:34.820 --> 00:22:35.849\ tristram cary Winchfield Hants: Right, yeah, yeah. 246\ 00:22:36.080 --> 00:22:37.239\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Hills anywhere. 247\ 00:22:37.820 --> 00:22:38.280\ tristram cary Winchfield Hants: The. 248\ 00:22:39.120 --> 00:22:43.549\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: I could extend it. I could. I could extend, or I could have made the roof bigger. 249\ 00:22:44.450 --> 00:22:47.819\ tristram cary Winchfield Hants: Yeah, we should have to make it massive to to provide enough water. 250\ 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:48.939\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Well, I mean, yeah. 251\ 00:22:48.940 --> 00:22:52.619\ tristram cary Winchfield Hants: By 50 times, if it if they, if you need that per week. 252\ 00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:54.979\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: We've had hardly any rain. 253\ 00:22:54.980 --> 00:22:56.980\ tristram cary Winchfield Hants: Yeah, last month. So. 254\ 00:22:57.340 --> 00:22:58.080\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Yeah. 255\ 00:22:58.910 --> 00:23:00.130\ tristram cary Winchfield Hants: Brilliant. Thank you. 256\ 00:23:02.030 --> 00:23:08.062\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: So would your advice, then, Henry, be that people need to have at least double the 257\ 00:23:08.970 --> 00:23:10.959\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: roof area that you've got? 258\ 00:23:11.990 --> 00:23:17.930\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: I mean, it obviously depends on which part of the country you're in, how much water you do get from the rain. But. 259\ 00:23:18.630 --> 00:23:23.280\ Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Sorry. Can I just check as well with that Graham for Henry? 260\ 00:23:23.380 --> 00:23:32.859\ Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: How big are the allotment areas that you're they're talking about here because we get a size of the scale of the allotment areas, we can get a feeling of like what the requirements are. 261\ 00:23:33.270 --> 00:23:39.380\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Yeah. Good point. The allotments are 3 quarters of an acre phone tool. 262\ 00:23:40.350 --> 00:23:41.240\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So 263\ 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:53.369\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: that's they're not. They're not big. The plots are relatively small. They're not the traditional allotment plot, which is so many poles by so many poles which I can't remember. They're sure 264\ 00:23:53.730 --> 00:23:54.910\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: square area. 265\ 00:23:56.750 --> 00:23:59.970\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: But yeah, Chris. 266\ 00:24:00.270 --> 00:24:09.539\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: Hi, I'm a parish council in Staffordshire, and the the allotments that we have sound very similar in scale to yours. 267\ 00:24:10.151 --> 00:24:13.730\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: And they? We have a very proactive 268\ 00:24:14.150 --> 00:24:23.230\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: along association, have done a lot of very good work, including, replicating something along the lines of what you've done there in Peterborough. 269\ 00:24:23.710 --> 00:24:26.752\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: We've got a strange situation, because 270\ 00:24:27.930 --> 00:24:45.520\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: whilst water is often scarce, and they're attempting to address that with the water tanks, the allotment sit in an area which suffers frequent flooding when it rains, the whole area flows. The water from the surrounding fields. 271\ 00:24:46.415 --> 00:24:53.879\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: None of which does account alone flow through that area down towards. And then the the flooding is a real problem. 272\ 00:24:54.130 --> 00:25:00.420\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: and we are receiving advice and support from a flood risk team from Staffordshire County council. 273\ 00:25:00.710 --> 00:25:04.690\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: and they are suggesting they have got an idea that they can put in 274\ 00:25:07.103 --> 00:25:11.590\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: facilities that can slow down the rate of water when it comes. 275\ 00:25:11.780 --> 00:25:16.400\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: and even possibly link it into the use for the allotments. 276\ 00:25:16.840 --> 00:25:25.270\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: You know, it's sort of it's really bizarre, because sometimes you got no water. And yet, within a matter of days or weeks. You can have water flooding down 277\ 00:25:25.610 --> 00:25:27.679\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: passed and around the allotments 278\ 00:25:28.132 --> 00:25:34.339\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: and we can't use it at the moment. Utilize it to store it for the allotments. So it's a sort of bigger. 279\ 00:25:34.770 --> 00:25:45.839\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: bigger project than perhaps yours was. But if you said your rate of consumption of those taxes. As it is, this water could be a godsend if only we can trap it. 280\ 00:25:47.800 --> 00:25:51.913\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Yes, you'd be. You'd need to find a way of creating a small 281\ 00:25:52.450 --> 00:25:57.040\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: reservoir dam or something, and then pump to pump it into a tank. 282\ 00:25:57.570 --> 00:26:03.870\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: Yeah, just the safety issues of any children. Because next door there is a playground. 283\ 00:26:04.050 --> 00:26:08.669\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: So we don't need kids going in there and falling in and doing harm to themselves. 284\ 00:26:09.090 --> 00:26:16.280\ Chris Hinton - Waterhouses PC Staffs: But it's it's a conundrum which, if we can, if we can tap literally tap into that water, it'll be a godsend. 285\ 00:26:18.230 --> 00:26:22.509\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: And I suspect somewhere in the country somebody's already 286\ 00:26:23.100 --> 00:26:25.379\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: had that problem and come up with a solution. 287\ 00:26:25.955 --> 00:26:31.060\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: How you maybe the National Allotment society or somebody could could help. 288\ 00:26:34.030 --> 00:26:39.658\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: But yeah, it's it's a good, interesting point. We we don't. We've never had any flooding 289\ 00:26:40.180 --> 00:26:44.200\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: since 1947, something. So the 290\ 00:26:48.340 --> 00:26:50.020\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Stuart, you're next. Please. 291\ 00:26:50.020 --> 00:26:53.610\ Cllr Stuart Withington, Great Dunmow, Essex: Alright! Thanks for that. And I I think it's a great effort. 292\ 00:26:54.301 --> 00:26:57.840\ Cllr Stuart Withington, Great Dunmow, Essex: I was just wondering what type of soil you've got there 293\ 00:26:58.230 --> 00:27:01.554\ Cllr Stuart Withington, Great Dunmow, Essex: and do the allotment users. 294\ 00:27:03.400 --> 00:27:08.340\ Cllr Stuart Withington, Great Dunmow, Essex: employ any methods to try and reduce the need for watering. 295\ 00:27:10.580 --> 00:27:11.370\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Hmm. 296\ 00:27:11.370 --> 00:27:20.620\ Cllr Stuart Withington, Great Dunmow, Essex: I I'm thinking about sort of increasing the organic content in the soil mulching cover crops. 297\ 00:27:24.090 --> 00:27:30.250\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Yeah the soil. Well, it it's typically good soil here. 298\ 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:34.831\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Think it's grade 2 agricultural land mainly. It's 299\ 00:27:36.440 --> 00:27:41.699\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: we're 5 meters above sea level. So we're probably under the water 300\ 00:27:42.110 --> 00:27:45.050\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: hundreds of years ago, thousands of years ago. 301\ 00:27:47.030 --> 00:27:51.019\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So the soil's quite good. It's quite, quite friable. There's no clay. 302\ 00:27:52.300 --> 00:27:55.639\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: and I think some of the allotment holders do use mulching. 303\ 00:27:56.750 --> 00:27:57.280\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: But 304\ 00:27:58.760 --> 00:28:04.730\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: I've not not an allotment specialist myself, so I can't. A real gardener. 305\ 00:28:04.730 --> 00:28:06.330\ Cllr Stuart Withington, Great Dunmow, Essex: Unfair question. Then, sorry? 306\ 00:28:07.126 --> 00:28:08.719\ Cllr Stuart Withington, Great Dunmow, Essex: Well, yeah. 307\ 00:28:08.920 --> 00:28:13.520\ Cllr Stuart Withington, Great Dunmow, Essex: But I really do. Empathize with your problem of lack of rain. 308\ 00:28:13.940 --> 00:28:17.149\ Cllr Stuart Withington, Great Dunmow, Essex: I don't think we get any more than that in Essex. 309\ 00:28:18.110 --> 00:28:23.449\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: No, probably not. No, whereas in the West country you probably get 3 times as much. 310\ 00:28:24.450 --> 00:28:25.190\ Cllr Stuart Withington, Great Dunmow, Essex: Yes. 311\ 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:40.549\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: And you could ask about the manifold issue you mentioned how to get the water evenly distributed amongst your 4 tanks. So what was the system you started with, and how would you suggest people do it in the future? 312\ 00:28:41.370 --> 00:28:46.680\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: What we have now is a single pipe connecting, or there's a tap on each 313\ 00:28:46.890 --> 00:28:48.750\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: container. So it's 4 taps. 314\ 00:28:48.910 --> 00:28:56.220\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: They're all connected into a single pipe that goes to a discharge tap, so any water flows into 315\ 00:28:56.980 --> 00:29:02.110\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: the master will flow along the manifold and fill up the other ones. 316\ 00:29:03.650 --> 00:29:07.559\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: The disadvantage of that is, if you have a leak, it will drain all 4. 317\ 00:29:08.600 --> 00:29:09.330\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Right. 318\ 00:29:09.610 --> 00:29:14.759\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: What I contemplated doing was putting a balance pipe at the top of each container near the top. 319\ 00:29:14.890 --> 00:29:18.960\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: so that when the master one filled, it would then spill into the adjacent ones. 320\ 00:29:19.800 --> 00:29:22.319\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: That has the advantage that if you have a leak 321\ 00:29:23.950 --> 00:29:26.280\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: you have 4 individual taps to fit 322\ 00:29:27.300 --> 00:29:31.029\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: washing counts. If you have a leak in any one, it only drinks that one. 323\ 00:29:31.480 --> 00:29:32.200\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Yep. 324\ 00:29:32.670 --> 00:29:38.569\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So far we haven't had that problem, but it's it's a possibility. But the other hand, mine is nice and simple. 325\ 00:29:38.690 --> 00:29:46.090\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: and it's flexible hoses between the tanks. So as they settle differently into the ground, it doesn't create any strain on the balance pipes. 326\ 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:49.725\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: but if there had been that but 327\ 00:29:51.420 --> 00:29:56.240\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: yeah. So there's 2 solutions. Really, one is sort of high level 328\ 00:29:57.010 --> 00:30:02.230\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: balance pipes so that they will fit up to a certain level, 4 taps 329\ 00:30:02.500 --> 00:30:06.690\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: solution that I did, because it's easiest, I suppose, was just 330\ 00:30:07.520 --> 00:30:10.940\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: 4 taps going into one pipe, 1 1 tap. 331\ 00:30:14.300 --> 00:30:16.320\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Interesting. I I just 332\ 00:30:16.500 --> 00:30:26.579\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: wondering if the the very flat land around you leads you to have to build against high winds, because there's nothing to stop the winds blasting you. 333\ 00:30:27.666 --> 00:30:33.890\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Is proof likely to disappear in some gale, or you so far have been proof against that. 334\ 00:30:35.960 --> 00:30:45.120\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: We haven't had a problem. It certainly was a consideration when we put it up. And it's the 335\ 00:30:46.120 --> 00:30:54.680\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: the slope faces east, which is probably not a good thing as a prevailing wind southeast. So. 336\ 00:30:56.910 --> 00:30:58.872\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: but it hasn't been an issue. 337\ 00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:09.830\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: The the only thing was that they, because I only put a limited number of screws holding the galvanized sheets down it. It rattled a lot in the wind. 338\ 00:31:10.080 --> 00:31:10.860\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Right. 339\ 00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:18.249\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Although it's not actually near anybody's house. Somebody mentioned that. It's disturbing to hear this rattling, so I went and put some more screws in. 340\ 00:31:21.750 --> 00:31:28.170\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: but it's it's it's been up 3 years now, and it's still standing. So that's that's something. 341\ 00:31:28.923 --> 00:31:34.769\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Well, I just think, if it's not large enough, are there plans to increase its its volume? 342\ 00:31:35.280 --> 00:31:40.340\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: I suppose if you're not receiving the rain. There's no point you're trying to capture. More. If you can't get any more. 343\ 00:31:41.080 --> 00:31:43.739\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Well, I suppose if we put, you know. 344\ 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:52.800\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: bigger area and more tanks, we would capture more rain, and it would take longer to consume it. But you're right when it's not raining. It doesn't matter how big it is. 345\ 00:31:52.800 --> 00:31:53.430\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Yeah. 346\ 00:31:54.480 --> 00:32:02.130\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Yeah, but I would say it's been a success and blood about that. 347\ 00:32:02.130 --> 00:32:08.930\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Yeah, no, I'm fascinated to know if the allotment holders are finding that they're producing more because you've got better water. 348\ 00:32:10.590 --> 00:32:17.400\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Well, funnily enough, we're gonna have a an allotment holders meeting in the future. I think that's a good question to ask them. 349\ 00:32:18.430 --> 00:32:19.170\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Yeah. 350\ 00:32:19.630 --> 00:32:21.735\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Okay, you have a carry a question from Gary. 351\ 00:32:23.570 --> 00:32:25.520\ Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Yeah, Henry, I was just wondering. 352\ 00:32:25.740 --> 00:32:37.930\ Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: casting my mind back to the start of the year, which seems like an age ago. Now it actually had horrendous rainfall, especially in this area. And I just wondered, did you actually ever have them all filled up at all at any time? 353\ 00:32:38.150 --> 00:32:42.579\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Oh, yes, yeah, we they certainly have have been full and overflow. 354\ 00:32:45.280 --> 00:32:51.550\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: And, as as I said, in going back a few years, it used to be lots of rain in the winter, and not so much in the summer 355\ 00:32:52.350 --> 00:32:58.969\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: recently averaged out over years. It typically is more evenly distributed throughout the year. 356\ 00:32:59.360 --> 00:33:01.890\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: But that certainly isn't the case this year. So 357\ 00:33:04.040 --> 00:33:11.430\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: yeah. And if you have too much rain, you have too much rain. I suppose you. We could have put another couple of tanks in and have more in store. But 358\ 00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:18.120\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: yeah, in hindsight. Maybe we'd have done that. 359\ 00:33:19.940 --> 00:33:24.570\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Well, hopefully, yes, people will learn from your experiences. 360\ 00:33:25.160 --> 00:33:34.450\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: and and no is this, does the National Association or National Allotment Society give you indications of how much water you're going to need for your lot. 361\ 00:33:34.600 --> 00:33:37.781\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: It doesn't sound as if you've got any guidance. There. 362\ 00:33:40.060 --> 00:33:50.509\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: No, they probably do. I would imagine they've got some publication that talks about water supplies and water consumption. I've not actually looked for it. 363\ 00:33:51.660 --> 00:33:58.130\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: I was, to be honest, I'm an engineer by fashion. So I was more interested in the technical solution to the problem. 364\ 00:33:58.535 --> 00:33:58.940\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Well. 365\ 00:33:58.940 --> 00:34:05.389\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Here he was. There's no water. Let's get some water, and I must admit I didn't think too hard about 366\ 00:34:05.790 --> 00:34:07.290\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: the requirements. 367\ 00:34:07.410 --> 00:34:08.170\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Water? 368\ 00:34:11.250 --> 00:34:12.710\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: So, yes. 369\ 00:34:12.850 --> 00:34:18.949\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: that's a there's a lesson there. Find out what it is your customer actually wants or needs before you actually. 370\ 00:34:19.489 --> 00:34:20.239\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: yeah. 371\ 00:34:22.050 --> 00:34:32.299\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Right. Well, thank you very much. Let's see if anybody else has any questions. Andrew. Good afternoon. As the late arrival you got to throw in questions about something you've not seen yet. 372\ 00:34:32.690 --> 00:34:36.028\ Andrew Clegg. Martock, Somerset: Yes, sorry to join you so late. I was 373\ 00:34:37.340 --> 00:34:47.359\ Andrew Clegg. Martock, Somerset: busy with an application from to turn my village into a motorway service station. 374\ 00:34:49.215 --> 00:34:50.390\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Right. 375\ 00:34:51.480 --> 00:34:54.829\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Well, let me move to Gary. Then who's got his hand up? Please. 376\ 00:34:55.980 --> 00:35:00.119\ Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Yeah, I saw that Andrew at the car gate, roundabout on the on the new thing. 377\ 00:35:02.040 --> 00:35:05.100\ Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Yeah, Henry, I just also wanted to just check. 378\ 00:35:05.590 --> 00:35:08.389\ Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: I take it there's no kind of like 379\ 00:35:09.250 --> 00:35:17.830\ Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: rules or regulations about accessing the water. I just wonder is as it created any tensions at all with potentially people 380\ 00:35:18.280 --> 00:35:21.852\ Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: like getting more than their fair share, as it were, or something. 381\ 00:35:24.160 --> 00:35:33.319\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: I'm not aware of that. I've not had any complaints, I mean the clock in sort of manages. The office hasn't had any complaints 382\ 00:35:36.470 --> 00:35:46.270\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: there are probably anybody is anybody else who come and steal water. So I think oh. 383\ 00:35:46.900 --> 00:35:51.889\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: we do. We haven't got any rules. We haven't said you can only have 10 meters a day or anything like that. 384\ 00:35:53.090 --> 00:35:56.910\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: That's just up to common sense, I think. And and the allotment holders seem to 385\ 00:35:57.150 --> 00:36:02.130\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: seem to be okay about it and to. 386\ 00:36:03.570 --> 00:36:05.090\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: School is so popular. 387\ 00:36:06.670 --> 00:36:10.640\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Yeah, and we've got. We've got a waiting list as well we could. We could do with more. But 388\ 00:36:12.920 --> 00:36:16.809\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: that's that could be another project by a bit of land. Expand the allotment. 389\ 00:36:18.240 --> 00:36:20.288\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: There's another water harvester or 2. 390\ 00:36:20.630 --> 00:36:21.400\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Yes. 391\ 00:36:22.120 --> 00:36:40.100\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Well, thank you. Thank you very much for your time, Henry, and the the knowledge very useful. I've just been looking at the program to let people know what's coming up next week, and I found, rather to my horror, that I'm telling people how the great collaboration Knowledge base works. 392\ 00:36:40.420 --> 00:36:53.719\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: So I better get start seeing on it and see. Make sure it does work. So next week we're trying to get a demonstration of of what's in the knowledge base, how we get data into it and what 393\ 00:36:53.820 --> 00:36:56.810\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: I'd like everybody to do to improve 394\ 00:36:56.950 --> 00:36:59.750\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: the way we're supplying information to everyone. 395\ 00:37:00.100 --> 00:37:09.050\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: So that's what's coming up next week, and if we don't have any more questions for anyone today, I would thank Henry very much for your time. 396\ 00:37:09.505 --> 00:37:13.089\ Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: And look forward to seeing you all in a week's time. 397\ 00:37:14.060 --> 00:37:16.249\ tristram cary Winchfield Hants: Take care, everybody, and thank you. Thank you. 398\ 00:37:16.250 --> 00:37:18.810\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Very interesting. Thanks. 399\ 00:37:18.810 --> 00:37:20.220\ Henry Clark - Peakirk PC: Good bye.