Central Bedfordshire Council news and press releases

How we're turning rain water into grit for our roads

Wednesday, 17 March 2021

We've been working on an exciting piece of innovation which not only helps with our gritting runs, but also has considerable sustainability benefits.

We've installed a rainwater harvesting system at our Thorn Turn depot, near Dunstable and Hougton Regis. The system collects rainwater from the roof, that would otherwise flow down gutters into the drain, and stores it in a tank which can hold up to 15,000 litres. The collected water is then used for creating our pre-wet brine solution for our gritting trucks.

The system was first used in January and has been in operation throughout the winter gritting season. It's led to a reduction in the amount of salt and fresh water being used, which is an added benefit to the environment and also saves money.

Following a successful trial, we'll be installing a smaller, 1,000-litre, rainwater harvesting system at our Sandy highways depot in April. The rainwater collected will be used to clean vehicles and equipment and in our highway maintenance programme, e.g. to mix with asphalt and other materials.

Councillor Ian Dalgarno, our Executive Member for Community Services said:

Our highways department is leading the way in finding innovative solutions to reduce costs and, by using this new system for collecting rainwater, it helps us to provide substantial savings on our water bills.

Councillor Steven Dixon, our Executive Member for Sustainability and Transformation said:

We are constantly striving to become more sustainable and this relatively simple but effective system for collecting and storing rainwater reduces our demand on precious water resources. This project is one of many that builds on our sustainability plan, which aims to get everyone thinking about the climate challenge and what steps can be taken by an individual or on a community basis.