It’s vital we work alongside farmers and landowners to ensure the water we abstract from the environment is the best quality possible.
Not only does this improve the environment, but reduces our water treatment costs – saving our customers’ money.
Our specialist Catchment Management team visits a large number of farmers and land holders each year to discuss farming practices and the range of specialist advice, options and grants we have available to help them.
We also run events throughout the year, featuring specialist speakers, case studies by farmers, the results of our latest trials, and future approaches.
More than 70 landowners and farmers attended our various workshops throughout 2023/24, with more events planned in the future.
In November 2023 more than 30 farmers and land managers joined us on the Malshanger Estate near Basingstoke to see the results of our cover cropping trials firsthand and to hear how improvements to soil microbiology can benefit crops, soil health and water quality.
We were joined by experts from SoilBioLab, the Farming Wildlife and Advisory Group (FWAG) and Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) who provided practical information and advice born out of evidence-based research, that attendees could take away and implement on their land.
Simon Lohrey, our Surface Water Manager, said: “Removing harmful chemicals at source means we don't have to use extra processes to remove them at our water treatment works."
“Farmers and landowners also benefit by losing less of their costly inputs to waste – saving money, time and improving soil health, and ultimately crop yields.
“We are delighted to work with so many farmers who are as passionate about this as we are and are seeing the benefits of working with us.”
Our events are seasonal, working around the farming calendar.
If you’re interested in attending one of them, you can find out more here.
To find out about the range of grants we have on offer, click here.