The water company and Morrison Utility Services have collaborated with Medway Council to make around 3,000 litres a day available for parks and sports grounds.
While a number of companies are understood to be considering opportunities to recycle water for landscapers, Southern claims to be the first in the UK to make it happen.
Morné Cloete, Southern Water project manager, said: “Southern Water is helping conserve water supplies to beat the drought in a number of ways but this is a new one for us.”
Brian Buckle, operations manager from Morrison Utility Services, said: “The idea sprang from Southern Water’s ongoing challenge to us to save water and as we’re currently experiencing a drought I really wanted to think big.”
The water comes from a scheme to replace almost 50km of pipes in Chatham. The new mains are placed in water containing chlorine for 16 hours to be disinfected.
Spokesman Samuel Underwood said the water, which would otherwise have gone down the sewer, was not clean enough for human consumption but fine for plants, as the chlorine evaporates quickly.
Meanwhile, local authorities in the area are prohibited from using hosepipes to water public spaces under the terms of a temporary ban which came in on 5 April.
Councillor Howard Doe said: “I’m pleased that this recycled water means the council can continue to provide residents with grassed sports areas and maintain the flower displays and trees which add to the appearance of the area, even during the drought.”
While spare volumes of used water are not universally available, this project could pave the way recycling to become routine, drought or no drought.
“Where we have projects of a similar scale and water can be recycled in this way, we are certainly looking to do that,” said Underwood. “It’s a no brainer, really.”
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