Green Salford: Eccles community garden receives sustainable rainwater collection system

A community garden in Eccles has received a new self-sufficient storage system to help water plants and educate Salford youngsers. 

The system, which will store rainwater to irrigate the garden, will be used as an educational toolkit for schoolchildren, teaching about sustainability, horticulture, engineering and nutrition.

It will also boost biodiversity in the garden and use less water.

The new irrigation system at Cleavley Community Forest Garden was constructed by infrastructure firm Costain as part of the upgrade of the M6 between junctions 21a and 26, which opened for traffic last month.

The installation of the new system is expected to capture 20,600 litres of water from the workshop’s roof each year.

David Cooke, interface project manager for the M6 upgrade, said: “We’re often working in an area for several years and we like to give something back.”

Cleavley Community Forest Garden is an outdoor space that offers workshops to residents and schools. It is run by Incredible Education, a social enterprise that specialises in community health and well-being programmes in the region.

Costain has previously worked with the garden, creating extra space for educational activities, where they installed lighting and heating to ensure its used effectively all year round.

The company has worked with University of Salford researchers to construct an irrigation system that prioritised the storage and reusability of rainwater.

Tom Kenyon, project director, Costain, said: “The garden provides an important educational service for schools and local residents.

“We’re proud to have contributed to this important resource by constructing an irrigation system that will provide a good supply of recycled water and boost biodiversity at the community garden.”

Incredible Education’s director, Ian Bocock, said: “The support of Costain’s people has been instrumental in helping us accomplish this milestone that will dramatically enhance the resources we provide to local school children, and our local community.

“We have long been investigating the potential of a sustainable water run-off and we’ve overcome several logistical challenges to reach this stage.

“We’re looking forward to seeing even more of the community benefit from our facility.”