A NORTHSIDE fire station’s cost saving plan via water harvesting will be among the features on a TV programme to be aired on RTÉ this week.
On ‘GROW COOK EAT’ this Wednesday, March 27, presenters Michael Kelly, founder of Grow It Yourself (GIY) and Karen O’Donohoe, GIY Head of Community Development, meet Dublin's Fire Service to learn how they have saved €11 million through their water harvesting programme.
Karen heads to Kilbarrack Fire Station to check out the incredible water harvesting programme that has helped the Dublin Fire Service cost efficiency.
”In 2018 we saw Ireland experience drought conditions over the summer and this highlighted the importance of not only water conservation but also the importance of water harvesting,” says Karen.
“From harvesting at home to harvesting on a whole other level we want to show what can be achieved when you think green.”
Kilbarrack Fire Station began a GreenPlan initiative in 2008 as an idea to use behavioural change to tackle Climate Change.
The crew used the GreenPlan to reduce energy usage and emissions, water intake and return, waste in all its forms including air leakage, build allotments and engage the local community as champions of sustainable development.
The knock-on effects improved morale and made the station a better place to work in.
By 2012 Kilbarrack Fire Station was recognised internationally as the world’s first carbon neutral fire station and had reduced its energy spend by over 80 per cent: that’s almost €50,000 per year. The savings were reinvested in other fire stations across Dublin and by 2016 Dublin Fire Brigade had reduced its total energy spend by 44 percent. That’s €11 million in utility savings.
The station's downpipes were removed and all the water from the roof space is collected through a pumping system and sent to a 3,000-litre storage tank. The tank fills the fire engines’ 1,800-litre tank and is used to tackle local fires. ‘GROW COOK EAT’ is a practical series, aimed at helping people with little or no knowledge of growing their own food. As well as the step-by-step guides to growing vegetables, the series showcases features on water harvesting and improving soil fertility.
It airs every Wednesday at 8.30pm on RTE until April 24.