Golf Club Swings Into Action and Saves 150,000L of Water a Year!

29th October 2021

For the people who live on the Isles of Scilly, water scarcity is part and parcel of their everyday lives. This is because the islands’ water supply depends mainly on rainfall. The water gets soaked up and stored within rocks as ‘groundwater’ and harvested through boreholes. Unlike on the South West Peninsula, there are no surface reservoirs in which to store water. So, when it gets hot and sunny, collecting enough drinking water gets tricky.

Perched on the cliff tops of St. Mary’s, the largest and most populated Isle of Scilly, is found the most south-westerly golf course in England. Boasting spectacular sea views and a challenging terrain that tests the most masterly of golfers, the Isles of Scilly Golf Club attracts hundreds of members and visitors per year. With so many people using their site, and water scarcity being a real issue on the island, the club realised they needed to up their water-saving game.

Phil Roe, a club member, put it this way: “As a club we recognise that there are very few public toilet facilities on the islands. Given our location, our toilets are a convenient stop off for many local walkers, joggers and cyclists, as well as those playing golf.”

There was just one problem.

The toilets at the club were not up to scratch, especially in their use of water. Phil explained that each flush used 9 litres of water. That’s 4½ 2-litre bottles of water every time someone used the loo!

With water resources being so precious and knowing something had to change, the club applied for help through our Water Saving Community Fund. They hoped to install 4 new toilets with water-efficient, button-press flushes. These modern toilets would use no more than 2 2-litre bottles of water per flush. That’s more than 2 flushes for every 1 flush of the old toilets! Replacing old toilets may feel like a small step, but it has had a significant impact on the amount of water freed up to go into their taps. Phil calculated that the old toilets used 300 m3 of water per year – that’s 300,000 litres of perfectly drinkable water. With the new toilets, the club is halving that consumption, saving approximately 150,000L a year. That’s enough water to fill 75,000 2-litre bottles which, laid end-to-end, would stretch for 17.7 miles! Just from 4 toilets! Replacing old toilets may feel like a small step, but it has had a significant impact on the amount of water freed up to go into their taps. Phil calculated that the old toilets used 300 m3 of water per year – that’s 300,000 litres of perfectly drinkable water. With the new toilets, the club is halving that consumption, saving approximately 150,000L a year. That’s enough water to fill 75,000 2-litre bottles which, laid end-to-end, would stretch for 17.7 miles! Just from 4 toilets!

With that in mind, there was no question of us giving our support.

The toilets were installed earlier this year, and according to Phil are, “Proving themselves to be a great hit with both golf and community members alike.”