Newsroom

24 November 2023

Blackpool residents offered free water butts

Blackpool Council has 1,000 free water butts available to residents as part of flood prevention scheme.

Free water butt offer coming soon
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The community flood resilience project has received £86,246 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Every household in Blackpool will be eligible to receive a water butt as part of this scheme, with flats and apartments also eligible if premises are suitable.

With global temperatures steadily rising, we are experiencing more extreme weather conditions such as longer dry, warm spells, usually followed by intense rainfall. As ground has hardened during the warm spell, it is less able to soak up the heavy amounts of rain that follow putting more pressure on the drainage systems which can lead to localised surface level flooding in some areas.

To help prevent this type of flooding in Blackpool, ongoing work is already being undertaken to ensure drains are clear, but we also need to reduce the amount of water entering the drains during these events in the first instance. One way to do this is to capture the rainfall during intense events, to slowly release it later when the period has passed.

Water butts, connect to downpipes, and collect rain that lands on rooftops which would ordinarily go to straight to the drainage system. An average water butt is around 150l capacity – by installing 1000 water butts in Blackpool we could save 150,000 litres of water from the drains during a heavy rain fall.

Water stored in the butts can then be used for watering the garden during future dry spells, outside cleaning or washing the car for example - saving the householder money on their utility bills.

Cllr Jane Hugo, Cabinet Member for Climate Change said

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“This is a great scheme and we are extremely pleased to have received the funding for this from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) as part of Levelling Up. “Climate change is something that we take seriously at Blackpool Council and we are always looking at ways we can adapt to the changing environment around us to accommodate these changes. A scheme such as this, whilst not solving the issue, will undoubtedly make a significant impact on the levels of water going to our drains at any one time. “It is also of a huge benefit to the homeowner who will be able to save on utility bills by being able to put this stored water to various uses and - also playing their part in helping Blackpool deal with the effects of the changing climate. “I would encourage all Blackpool households that have the facility to install a water butt at their home to take us up on this offer. Every little bit that we can do individually, makes a big difference overall.”
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The water butts will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. The registration system will open on Monday 27 November at 8.00am. Visit www.blackpool.gov.uk/waterbutt for full details or call (01253) 477477.

Installation is very simple, but if required, volunteers from the Blackpool Volunteer Centre can assist householders.

Notes to editors

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025.

The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.

For more information, visit: www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus

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