Our Latest Projects

Wise Up to Water! Project

Water, there's loads of it about, its always raining so what’s the problem?

Well, water is a renewable resource but there aren’t never ending supplies of it and the amount that is available each year depends upon the amount of rainfall that we have.

This part of the country is one of the driest with around half the national average rainfall for England and Wales.
In an average year only a quarter of the rainfall is available as a water resource after evaporation and use by plants. Long dry summers, during which evaporation exceeds rainfall, are a normal part of the climate in this region. This dry region is also one of population and economic growth.

Worldwide, about 1 billion people routinely drink unhealthy water; some 5 million deaths a year are caused by polluted drinking water.
Treating water, to make it safe to drink, uses energy and costs money. The majority of that energy used comes from the burning of fossil fuels, which in turn contributes to climate change.

Climate change is a global issue that affects the whole water cycle. We may see hotter summers, wetter winters, more frequent extreme weather events e.g. drought and flooding, and more frequent seasonal droughts, which in turn will put more pressure on water resources.
It is therefore important that we all use water wisely and continue to look for ways to conserve water to ensure that future demands can be met.

This is why here at Wells Field Studies Centre we decided that we wanted to tackle our water use head on. We had already fitted older toilet cisterns with Freddies, purchased low water use washing machines and tried to educate our visitors about saving water by taking short sharp showers, not leaving taps running when brushing teeth, etc.

With support from The Norfolk Coast Partnership Sustainable Development Fund we were able to do several more things. Please explore this section of our website to find out more.

Construction of ‘Seaside Themed’ Raised Bed

Installation of 2 ‘Rainwater Harvesting’ Tanks and Push button taps

Design of a Water Cycle Mural and production of educational materials