Water - What are we doing?

View this page in Welsh / Gweld y tudalen hwn yn Gymraeg


We have improved our infrastructure to help us to reuse and recycle harvested water and increased water efficiency by better monitoring and managing water use.

This page is designed to show you some examples of the water initiatives the Council is implementing as part of Project Zero.


Rainwater harvesting in Council homes

Lon Y Ysgol is a 3 storey block of 14 x 1 bed apartments for older people, completed in 2023 as part of the Council's Housing Development Programme. It is built on the site of a former school house and grounds close to the new St Cyres school in Penarth.

During the build we included a 7,500-litre underground tank that takes rainwater from the roof and stores it to use for toilet flushing. This helps take pressure off the public sewer and reduces the flooding risk during heavy downpours.  This water saving initiative also reduces the need for mains fed water and will support during times of drought.

We are also using the same approach at the social housing scheme at the former Colcot Clinic site in Barry, due to be completed in late 2024.



Monitoring our water use across the Council estate

Measuring water use across the Council estate is the first step in helping spot ways to reduce the amount of water that we use. We now have around 170 active automatic water meter readers in place including in schools, other Council buildings, and parks.

Using information from the meters, we monitor our water use weekly to spot leaks and other issues. This helps to identify the causes of water wastage so that these can be fixed. Fixing one leak alone from an allotment site helped save thousands of pounds of potential future water bills.

Monitoring our water has also helped us to spot opportunities and make changes such as fitting water reduction measures in school urinals.



Drinking fountains

We have installed drinking fountains in various locations across the Vale. The initiative aims to reduce the use of disposable plastic bottles and encourage use of refillable water bottles.

Many are located in areas close to outdoor sports, gym and play facilities, encouraging people to stay hydrated during their activities.

Since 2019 we have installed fountains at:

  • Barry – Central Park, Knap Gardens, Romilly Park, Upper Gladstone Gardens, Barry Island Promenade.
  • Penarth – New Cogan Leisure Centre Skate Park, Cliff Walk, Penarth Seafront.
  • St Athan – Lougher Place.
  • Dinas Powys – The Murch or Bryn y Don Playing Fields.
  • Ogmore-By-Sea – Main Car Park.

The areas have been selected due to the high foot traffic and number of visitors.

In addition, over 1,600 locations offering water refills in Wales can be found at Refill Wales and their associated app.



Water efficiency at our Atlantic Resource Recovery Facility

At the Atlantic Resource Recovery Facility (ARRF), we harvest rainwater to produce a sustainable supply of recycled water.

The green roofs on our two waste processing barns absorb rainwater and reduce storm runoff. The rainwater is held within the green roof and goes through a natural purification process as it is absorbed by the soil and slowly released into our drainage system, which in turn enters our Stormsaver Rainwater Harvester System via drain pipes.

The Stormsaver Rainwater Harvester System is a 14,000 litre underground tank fed from our green roofs which cleans water through various filtration methods and finally cleansed using UV. Water from the system feeds our vehicle wash, which washes the entire fleet of 35 Recycling Trucks weekly. We also use this water for general onsite cleaning tasks, including washing onsite commercial vehicles.

The ARRF also has a number of Triton underground water storage tanks which retain rainwater for use in the event of a fire. South Wales Fire service can connect to the water supply in the event of a fire and this will provide them with 235,200 litres of water.

The ARRF drainage systems have been designed to be compliant with SuDS regulations. The facility has numerous permeable paving areas, rain planters and separators which remove oil, silt and grease prior to entering the drainage system and local waterways. There is a Polystorm tank that stores water in the event of a heavy downpour, and this can control the flow rate in which it is released from site. Penstock valves are located around the facility which can be closed in the event of a major fire, containing any water that is used during the firefighting process for safe disposal and preventing contamination of local water ways.



Reed bed filtration for highway gully waste at Pant y Lladron

Pant y Lladron, a Vale of Glamorgan Council facility, is on the south side of the A48 near St Hilary. The facility opened in 2008 and recycles waste material from highway gullies using a reed bed filtration system.

As a by-product, clean water is produced through the reed bed filtration process. The clean water is then reused for further gully cleansing creating a semi closed loop system. Soil and other solid waste materials collected during gully cleansing are also recycled. Previously, highway gully waste material had been disposed of in a landfill site.

Cardiff and Bridgend Local Authorities also utilise Pant y Lladron. Their fleet of gully suckers and road sweeper vehicles alongside the Vale of Glamorgan fleet makes up 20 to 30 vehicles regularly offloading. This creates around 2,000 tonnes of road sweeping and gully emptying material every year, and saves large volumes of water as the vehicles are refilled with the water that has been filtered through the reed beds.

View this page in Welsh / Gweld y tudalen hwn yn Gymraeg


We have improved our infrastructure to help us to reuse and recycle harvested water and increased water efficiency by better monitoring and managing water use.

This page is designed to show you some examples of the water initiatives the Council is implementing as part of Project Zero.


Rainwater harvesting in Council homes

Lon Y Ysgol is a 3 storey block of 14 x 1 bed apartments for older people, completed in 2023 as part of the Council's Housing Development Programme. It is built on the site of a former school house and grounds close to the new St Cyres school in Penarth.

During the build we included a 7,500-litre underground tank that takes rainwater from the roof and stores it to use for toilet flushing. This helps take pressure off the public sewer and reduces the flooding risk during heavy downpours.  This water saving initiative also reduces the need for mains fed water and will support during times of drought.

We are also using the same approach at the social housing scheme at the former Colcot Clinic site in Barry, due to be completed in late 2024.



Monitoring our water use across the Council estate

Measuring water use across the Council estate is the first step in helping spot ways to reduce the amount of water that we use. We now have around 170 active automatic water meter readers in place including in schools, other Council buildings, and parks.

Using information from the meters, we monitor our water use weekly to spot leaks and other issues. This helps to identify the causes of water wastage so that these can be fixed. Fixing one leak alone from an allotment site helped save thousands of pounds of potential future water bills.

Monitoring our water has also helped us to spot opportunities and make changes such as fitting water reduction measures in school urinals.



Drinking fountains

We have installed drinking fountains in various locations across the Vale. The initiative aims to reduce the use of disposable plastic bottles and encourage use of refillable water bottles.

Many are located in areas close to outdoor sports, gym and play facilities, encouraging people to stay hydrated during their activities.

Since 2019 we have installed fountains at:

  • Barry – Central Park, Knap Gardens, Romilly Park, Upper Gladstone Gardens, Barry Island Promenade.
  • Penarth – New Cogan Leisure Centre Skate Park, Cliff Walk, Penarth Seafront.
  • St Athan – Lougher Place.
  • Dinas Powys – The Murch or Bryn y Don Playing Fields.
  • Ogmore-By-Sea – Main Car Park.

The areas have been selected due to the high foot traffic and number of visitors.

In addition, over 1,600 locations offering water refills in Wales can be found at Refill Wales and their associated app.



Water efficiency at our Atlantic Resource Recovery Facility

At the Atlantic Resource Recovery Facility (ARRF), we harvest rainwater to produce a sustainable supply of recycled water.

The green roofs on our two waste processing barns absorb rainwater and reduce storm runoff. The rainwater is held within the green roof and goes through a natural purification process as it is absorbed by the soil and slowly released into our drainage system, which in turn enters our Stormsaver Rainwater Harvester System via drain pipes.

The Stormsaver Rainwater Harvester System is a 14,000 litre underground tank fed from our green roofs which cleans water through various filtration methods and finally cleansed using UV. Water from the system feeds our vehicle wash, which washes the entire fleet of 35 Recycling Trucks weekly. We also use this water for general onsite cleaning tasks, including washing onsite commercial vehicles.

The ARRF also has a number of Triton underground water storage tanks which retain rainwater for use in the event of a fire. South Wales Fire service can connect to the water supply in the event of a fire and this will provide them with 235,200 litres of water.

The ARRF drainage systems have been designed to be compliant with SuDS regulations. The facility has numerous permeable paving areas, rain planters and separators which remove oil, silt and grease prior to entering the drainage system and local waterways. There is a Polystorm tank that stores water in the event of a heavy downpour, and this can control the flow rate in which it is released from site. Penstock valves are located around the facility which can be closed in the event of a major fire, containing any water that is used during the firefighting process for safe disposal and preventing contamination of local water ways.



Reed bed filtration for highway gully waste at Pant y Lladron

Pant y Lladron, a Vale of Glamorgan Council facility, is on the south side of the A48 near St Hilary. The facility opened in 2008 and recycles waste material from highway gullies using a reed bed filtration system.

As a by-product, clean water is produced through the reed bed filtration process. The clean water is then reused for further gully cleansing creating a semi closed loop system. Soil and other solid waste materials collected during gully cleansing are also recycled. Previously, highway gully waste material had been disposed of in a landfill site.

Cardiff and Bridgend Local Authorities also utilise Pant y Lladron. Their fleet of gully suckers and road sweeper vehicles alongside the Vale of Glamorgan fleet makes up 20 to 30 vehicles regularly offloading. This creates around 2,000 tonnes of road sweeping and gully emptying material every year, and saves large volumes of water as the vehicles are refilled with the water that has been filtered through the reed beds.