08/05/2026
This week we are taking part in the water saving week campaign! Each day we'll be sharing information about water use and what members of staff have been doing to save water.
Closing the week on the final day of the campaign, find out how preparing for a storm can relieve some pressure on our drain and sewer systems.
Today's water-saving action features Debbie, the Natural Flood Management Officer at DCRT.
"My work aims to reduce flood risk in the Upper Rother Catchment (in and around Chesterfield) by working with nature to capture and slow flows of water through the landscape.
I did pledge 17 'tap into free water', which was to install a water butt to collect rainwater from the roof of the house for use in the garden instead of tap water.
We already have one water butt connected to the shed and had been meaning to get another one set up on a house downpipe for a while but hadn’t got round to it. Committing to this pledge made sure we got it done!
We know water butts are brilliant for reducing water use and all the good reasons for doing so (we’ve been banging on about it all week!) but did you know water butts can also help tackle flooding and sewer spills into our rivers?
All the water running off roofs during a storm rushes onto our roads and into our drains and sewers. These can become quickly overwhelmed causing them to back up, resulting in surface water flooding and sewage spills into our rivers. If we can hold back some of that rainfall and runoff during the worst of a storm, we can reduce the pressure on drains and sewers allowing them to function as they should.
Make sure to empty out some water from your water butts if you know a storm is coming so that there is plenty of room for storing those storm flows!"
