New Spitalfields Market is set to create the biggest rainwater harvesting project in the UK.
The £100,000 initiative will see a 275,000 litre tank take up a third of the market’s roof, which is the size of six football pitches.
The scheme, which is at the procurement stage, could see the installation finished by the end of the year. The market will be able to operate throughout the project.
The funding has come from a pot of money that was carried over from the old market when the traders moved to the Leyton site 20 years ago and ring-fenced for site improvements.
Superintendent Nigel Shepherd said: “We will be able to collect water to clean the market, because we have to hose down and brush every foot of it every day. It’s a green issue and will provide a long-term net saving.”
This comes at the same time as a project to switch to energy-saving light bulbs across the market.
